Where Hope fears to tread
by Yasha-HebiHime
Summary: Full Summary inside. AU. "K.. Konohamaru... I think.. I think that I'm.." "A girl!" They shouted at the same time, both falling right onto the ground with one hand on their heads. "This can't be happening." Naruto stated, putting his fingers on his nose.
1. Treading sacred ground

Summary: There is said to be an ancient spring, founded and constructed by the very gods themselves to punish those who would bathe in their holy ground. However, they later sealed this area completely, thinking that no mortal would ever be unlucky enough to fall into the mountain guarded realm...

They had never counted on Konoha's most unpredictable ninja doing exactly as they feared, and they shuddered at the consequences.

AN: This is an AU story, obviously, and will be sporting things that are in my other story: Hope is something to work for. This means things like sword-names and such are included. Also, I am upping everyone's ages a bit, at least the "main" characters.

All Academy students are 12. (Udon, Moegi, Konohamaru, Hanabi..) and are in their third year.

All of the Rookie Nine (Team 7 8 10) are 15, and Team Gai is 16. Despite this, the "time frame" and stature of said people are the same, it simply allows me to make them a bit more mature.

0-0-0-0 Konoha, Hokage Tower top 0-0-0-0

"Are you sure about this, Konohamaru?" asked a slightly nervous blonde, his hands behind his head as he stared at the contraption his "Student" had created. It was just a few days after his mission to Wave, and his entire team had been put on temporary dismissal in order to rest in recover. Needless to say Naruto was, of course, ready to go after a meal and a nap but both Sasuke and Sakura seemed completely out of it, as if the battles that happened there struck them somewhere deep in their souls.

Hearing his "Student" (He would never get used to being called "Boss", but it sure felt nice) calling his name he hastily re-interested himself in the small brown-haired Ninja, his face splitting into a grin. "Yeah? What were you saying?" Konohamaru huffed, turning his head.

"I saiiid that this is a totally awesome idea, Boss! Moegi and Udon wouldn't do it but you totally will, right!" He announced with a grin on his face, pointing at the large construct behind him. "It took me forever to make this, and I want it to work! It's totally safe too!" He nodded proudly, putting his hands on his waist and Naruto chuckled slightly, staring towards Konohamaru's invention.

It was a rather nicely carved Catapult, with three logs on each side in a triangle shape, holding up another log that had a very large basket and there was a large string attached to the front on the opposite side of the basket which was connected to a very large boulder which was straining to come down but there was a metal pole blocking it from doing so.

Running his hand along the smooth wood, Naruto felt a small bit of pride weld up in him. "You did a really good job Konohamaru! I mean seriously, this has got to be the best carved wood I've seen." He grinned, seeing Konohamaru's eyes light up with stars as Naruto sat in the basket, a little bit in awe at how large it was. Chouji could probably fit himself in here while in his human boulder form! "How did you do all this? All by yourself?" Konohamaru grinned, rubbing his nose with a smug look on his face as Naruto climbed out of the basket.

"Simple really! I asked one of the nice Akimichi's to help me out." Naruto nodded, smiling and going into a full-blown grin as Konohamaru hastily added. "They only helped me lift things though! I crafted the basket and carved the wood, though the pole was their idea..." Naruto chuckled again, nodding.

"I see..well.. What exactly are you wanting to do anyways, Konohamaru?" The young boy grinned again, climbing into the basket and tugging on the sides to make sure it was secure.

"Simple! I asked Jiji about the Hokage Mountain and he said that while lots of people have been on the faces of the mountain, no one has actually been _past_ that! He said that even he couldn't move the earth there and anyone who tried climbing it mysteriously found themselves back where they started!" He nodded, crossing his arms with a grin. "So we're going to use _this_." He patted the basket with one hand. "to cross the mountain!"

Naruto's eyes lit up and he looked towards the Hokage's faces once more, all of them giving them their normal stone-gaze. "I see! That does sound neat, Konohamaru but..What if we hit the mountain? Or.. I don't know, go over it?" He tilted his head here, frowning as he ran the image of going _splat_ against the mountain's side.

Konohamaru's smile faltered but quickly lit back up again as he held up two pills towards Naruto. "These are Feather Pills! They'll make us light as a feather if we take them during the fall so even if we hit the mountain it won't hurt us at all!" He grinned throwing one to Naruto who caught it quickly, not wanting to drop a possibly expensive tool.

"But uh.. if we're as light as a feather.." Naruto asked, frowning as another thought occurred to him. "If a wind blows, won't that move us around?" Konohamaru twitched, a frown crossing his face.

"When's the last time wind blew in Konoha? Come on Boss! We're wasting daylight here!" Naruto sighed, but nodded. Indeed Konoha was mostly a dry-heat territory most of the time but there were some random spouts of wind throughout the years...

Naruto shrugged, climbing into the basket behind Konohamaru. Chances were slim that there would be any wind today! Konohamaru grinned, taking out a Kunai from his Shinobi pouch and tossed it at the rope but the Kunai seemed to be too dull to cut through it and bounced off uselessly. Konohamaru's face lit up in a red blush of embarrassment as Naruto chuckled behind him.

"Here, I'll do it." He smiled putting up the familiar Kage Bunshin seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He announced, a clone of himself appearing in a _poof_ of smoke outside of the basket. With a smile the clone picked up the fallen Kunai, twirling it around one finger before looking at the two. "Ready, Konohamaru?" It asked grinning and, after a nod from Konohamaru, it cut cleanly through the rope. This caused the rock above to fall rapidly, landing right on the clone (Naruto winced here) and with a snap, they were off.

Both Konohamaru and Naruto were both gasping as they flew high above the clouds, the Catapult having sent them higher than they had figured and both quickly gripped the pills in the hands, waiting for the decent to start before taking them.

Moments later they began to fall and both hastily popped the pills in their mouth and with a sudden jerk, as if someone had pulled on a string connected to them, both began to fall much slower than before. Naruto let out a heavy breath he didn't know he had been holding and grinned, nodding at Konohamaru. "Good job! I hope we actually made it across, though we haven't seem to hit the mountain yet.. It's really foggy down there." Indeed everything below them was covered in fog and the two were having a hard time figuring out if they were getting lower or not, as the village itself seemed to be missing from their view.

"You worry too much boss!" Konohamaru grinned, though there was obvious nervousness in his voice. "We'll be fine! We haven't became Hokage yet, so there's no way we're gonna die." Naruto chuckled nodding as the two continued their decent.

"So while we're falling.. Whats with you and that one girl, Boss?" Konohamaru asked suddenly, crossing his arms, his scarf waving behind him lazily. At Naruto's confused stare he rolled his eyes, his boss could be so clueless sometimes! "You know, that pink haired one that hits you a lot...She doesn't seem to like you." Naruto's eyes darkened and he sighed, looking away. Sensing his sudden mood change Konohamaru hastily corrected himself." I mean! She does like you I think but.. I dunno, she hits you a lot even when you say smart stuff, Hanabi-Chan only hits me when I um.." He blinked seeing the stare Naruto was giving him, his eyebrow raised and a knowing grin on his face. "What?"

Naruto's grin grew and his eyes squinted together slightly. "Hanabi-_Chan_?" Konohamaru's eyes lit up with realization and he felt his cheeks grow red and he huffed, looking away from Naruto.

"Y.. Yeah what of it! You call that pink-haired girl Chan too! And Hanabi's sister too!" Naruto blinked in surprise, having not known Konohamaru knew that.

Chuckling, Naruto shook his head slightly. "You got me, I call them both Chan 'cause they're my friends and.. I like them."

"Even though the pink-Chan hits you a lot?" Naruto shrugged slightly, letting out a sigh.

"She's just.. I don't know, temperamental? It's probably my fault because I let her hit me so much... but, at least it's some attention?" Naruto turned his head away from the boy, and Konohamaru bit his lip trying to seek words to console his brother-figure when suddenly both felt a tug on their bodies and they looked at each other with shock written on their features.

"You felt that..?" Konohamaru asked, fear creeping into his voice as Naruto nodded, both of them gulping simultaneously as gravity finally seemed to realize their full weight and with another jerk the two were brought down, _fast. _The wind whipped past their faces, tugging back their skin and clothing.

Naruto brought his arm up to his eyes, shielding them from the wind as he reached over, gripping Konohamaru's wrist tightly and pulling the boy over. The young Shinobi looked up in shock as Naruto wrapped his legs around the boy, his back now facing the ground as he formed the familiar Kage Bunshin seal once more. With a shout that fell on both of their deaf ears, a large poof of smoke gathered behind the two as dozens upon dozens of Naruto clones came into existence and each one gripped the one in front of them until it was a large boulder of orange, with Konohamaru's blue scarf whipping out of the top.

Naruto looked behind him, eyes narrowed into slits. _'With any luck, these guys will cushion the fall for at least Konohamaru...' _He closed his eyes tightly, wrapping his arms firmly around Konohamaru, who was shouting something, but it was muted from the wind rushing past them.

Not seconds later there was a large _poof_ as most of the shadow clones were destroyed upon impact with the ground below, however as their memories came rushing into Naruto's mind he felt his eyes widen in shock at the cold chill they felt right before being destroyed. _'Shit..Is there ice up here!'_ He thought, his eyes widening further as he turns his head to look, however just as he did the last of his clones were gone with a _poof_ and he was suddenly submerged in ice cold water with rocks brushing against his back.

Reacting quickly, he slammed his feet on the ground below, sending water spilling out of the small pond he and Konohamaru had landed in and he hastily pulled himself to his feet, gasping for air as he rose. He groaned as he reached the shore of the small pond, feeling his head throb from such a powerful impact, even though it was greatly reduced by his mass of clones.

He looked down towards Konohamaru but felt himself recoil in surprise at the log that was there instead. He slapped his forehead, tossing the log to the side and looking back and forth for any sign of his young friend. "Konohamaru! Where are you!" He shouted out, putting his hands around his mouth to add volume, but he recoiled once more at the sound of his own voice which sounded... higher pitched, with a slight whine at the end of it.

Naruto shook his head, frowning and shaking himself to remove the water from his body. _'No time for that right now, I have to find Konohamaru!'_ He thought, putting the voice-questioning aside for later. He turned around looking back towards the pond with his eyes narrowed, scanning over the crystal blue water. However there seemed to be nothing but rocks, a blue scarf, and … A blue scarf?

His eyes widening, Naruto hastily ran over to where the scarf was floating, grasping it and tugging up what was connected to it with one strong pull. With a gasp, Konohamaru was pulled free from the rock he had been stuck on inside the water and he landed neatly on Naruto's stomach, though he was quickly pulled up to his feet by Naruto, who proceeded to pat his back rather hard to get the water Konohamaru had in his lungs.

Several coughing fits later, Konohamaru held his hand up and nodded, smiling up towards Naruto. "Thanks Bo- Whoa!" Konohamaru's eyes widened and he hmmed, putting one hand on his chin and looking at the ground. "My voice sounds different." He stated, looking up towards Naruto with his eyes squinted. "And your face boss.. It's all.. Pretty?"

Naruto tilted his head, his eyebrow arched up and he turned back around towards the pond, leaning over the side with his hands on his hips. He squinted into the jumbled up reflection that came from the water and he felt his eyes widen as he noticed the now heart-shape of his face and the new curve he had to his whiskers, much like he did when he used his Sexy Jutsu, and his hair was long, about to mid-back just like his Sexy Jutsu as well but not in pigtails.

With a gulp, Naruto slowly unzipped his water filled jumpsuit and tossed the jacket to the side leaving him in his white sleeveless undershirt, his breathing becoming heavier as he cupped the small mounds that had definitely not been there before. "K.. Konohamaru... I think.. I think that I'm.." He turned towards the boy, his eyes widening in shock at the sight of the now shirtless Konohamaru who shared the same horrified look Naruto had on his face. The "Boy" had a heart-shaped face much like Naruto's and "his" hair was also long, but tucked into the scarf around "his" neck and Konohamaru's chest seemed to be only slightly smaller than Naruto's.

"A girl!" They shouted at the same time, both falling right onto the ground with one hand on their heads. "This can't be happening." Naruto stated, putting his fingers on his nose.

Konohamaru's posture wasn't much different, though he had his palm on his forehead instead. "Boss... Maybe this is only temporary?" He, or rather she?, said with a hopeful tone. "Maybe we just used the Sexy Jutsu as we fell?" As if to test this theory he put his fingers together, saying "Kai", but other than a _poof _from the log he had substituted to earlier, there were no results.

"I didn't preform seals and I'm not missing any chakra except from using my Kage Bunshin." Naruto said, crossing 'her?' arms under the new mounds that was on her chest. "And since we can't release it the only thing we can probably do is transform into our past-forms but that would really ware down our chakra..." She rubbed her chin now, sighing. "First things first, we can worry about this later. Right now we have to figure out where we are." Konohamaru nodded, a frown on her face as she pulled on her shirt again while Naruto scanned the area.

The entire area seemed to be a vast field with the only breaks being the pond that was currently behind Naruto and a bridge that was located far in the distance. Not only that but she could also see the outline of a building just beyond that. With a nod she began to walk towards the bridge, Konohamaru following close behind since she trusted her boss's judgment.

"I wonder if we're really just past the Hokage Mountain? It felt like we fell far longer than that..." Konohamaru voiced out, looking up towards the sky which seemed to be completely white as if a large cloud was blocking the sun, yet the entire area remained bright as day.

Naruto shrugged as the bridge grew closer, which seemed about ten feet long and five feet large with a long blue stream of water flowing under it. "With any luck, we'll find out everything we need to know from this place." As they reached the bridge there was a sudden shout that both startled and made them grow a faint sense of hope.

"Hey! How the hell are you guys up here?" Said the voice, and the owner of the voice was running at them at high speed from the building in front of them. He had thin black hair that went just past his neck from behind and hung over his dark blue eyes which had a dark scar going horizontally through both of them. His skin was tan, as if he was always in the sun, and he was around 5'8 wearing a loose kimono that had the Konoha symbol on the top, which was pure white, but the bottom of the Kimono was black with dark red fire seeming to dance along the hem.

His eyes, Naruto noticed, were glowing with surprise, shock, and fear. All pointed at them. With a huff, Naruto lightly pushed Konohamaru behind her, which caused the man to instantly stop. He stopped on the other side of the bridge, his fists clenched beside him. "I'll ask again, how are you up here? This place is completely restricted to mortals."

The two girls glanced at each other and looked back towards the man. "We're here on accident, we wanted to get to the top of the mountain so we.." She blinked looking towards Konohamaru. "What would you call that thing again?"

"A catapult." She said proudly, smiling and jabbing a thumb towards herself. "Made it myself so I get to name it..." Naruto flicked her forehead, causing the young girl's smile to fall into a pout but it grew serious again as the man made a step forward towards them.

"You're telling me you two.. launched yourselves up here, higher than the clouds, and fell down the Pit without so much of a scratch on you? No mortal could be that lucky, or be that skilled..." He looked towards Naruto, his eyes narrowed and he suddenly gripped at the left side of his waist with his left hand, as if there was something there and his right hand began to move towards it. "You're in league with the demons, aren't you! Targeting the God's relaxation zone, you fiends.. I'll have your heads for this, starting with the small one!" He suddenly charged forward, seeming to pull out a glowing orange Katana from where he was holding, as if he had it sheathed there the entire time.

Naruto felt time slow down as she pushed Konohamaru to the side, her hand sinking into her Shinobi pouch and tugging a Kunai free as she watched the man step onto the side of the bridge, jumping up into the air and heading straight for Konohamaru. She hastily moved into the way, blocking the orange Katana with her Kunai and sending the unprepared Ronin flying back.

With a small spin he landed on a rock inside the flowing river and he huffed, glaring towards the two. "Fine then, you will be first blonde girl!" He jumped into the air and Naruto hastily brought Konohamaru to her feet.

"Run Konohamaru, I'll handle this guy till he starts listening." She nodded, fear in her eyes as she ran to the side quickly, keeping within viewing distance in case Naruto needed help.

Watching the man approach Naruto hastily made some distance between the two by jumping backwards, tugging another Kunai out and clasping it in her empty hand. She bit her lip, trying to remember what Kakashi had told her about fighting Swordsmen, as she had asked when they were resting after the bridge fight with Zabuza.

_'Oh? You want to know how I beat Zabuza without getting hit by that sword, huh? It's not that hard if you have good reflexes, although not seeing him made it much harder.' Here Kakashi grinned under his mask, staring at Naruto's excited face. 'You see.. I simply had to listen, hear the wind move from his strikes and dodge accordingly. You could probably do it too, Naruto.. You seem to have good ears.'_

_Naruto chuckled, rubbing the back of his head slightly. 'Not that good, Kakashi-Sensei! I doubt I'd be able to dodge something that didn't make a lot of noise.'_ _Kakashi nodded here, smiling still as he nodded towards Sakura in thanks for bringing him a tea._

_'Yes that could pose a problem if your opponent had a thin sword that didn't make much noise, so just watch his wrist. If you can follow where the wrist is going, you can follow where his attacks will go.'_

_'What if I can't see him?'_

_'Then.. well.. You run... Or you rely on luck or your instincts." Here he grinned, shrugging. "Or, in your case, yell until the opponent gets so infuriated they run out swinging without a thought of defense' He laughed at Naruto's sour expression._

Silently thanking the man in her head, Naruto began to keep her eyes locked on the wrist of the man attacking her. He twisted it left, aiming for her hip and she brought her Kunai to block the attack. He seemed surprised once again and was unprepared for the jab of her other Kunai coming towards his own hip. He broke free of the block, backing up to dodge the blow. He charged again soon after, his attacks becoming faster and stronger, causing Naruto to flinch with each blow she blocked and she felt her knees begin to give away. _'Where is my strength? I used to be so much stronger..'_

It was then that it dawned on her, that the body she had now was no longer her body that she had known. _'It's... thinner! I can't block like this..'_ During this thought she had, momentarily, taken her eyes off his wrist and she gasped as sheer pain tore through her flesh, blood dripping from her now gashed open left arm which hung limply to the side now, the nerves cleanly cut through.

She groaned softly, feeling her mind flicker in and out of an unconscious state as she glared towards the man. _'Maybe... it wouldn't be so bad, dying like this..'_ She thought quietly, feeling heat rush down her arm as the red chakra began to stitch her flesh back together.

Seeing this, the man laughed, throwing his head back. "I knew it! You are with the demons, that vile energy could belong to nothing but a demon!" Naruto flinched, her eyes wide again as the man began to move towards her, grasping his blade tightly. "You're finished, demon spawn!"

Naruto felt anger starting to claw at her mind, and she felt the familiar flash of red in her mind as she heard the words out of the man's mouth. She began to open her mouth to retort, when a voice rang out over the fields. "You take that back you jerk! Naruto-Nii isn't a demon at all! He's caring, and powerful! So you take that back, my Naruto-Nii is going to be the Hokage!" Konohamaru yelled out at the top of her small lungs, a Kunai held firmly in her hand as she began to throw it towards the Ronin.

The man seemed taken back by this but he quickly recovered, grabbing the Kunai out of mid air and smirking towards the small girl. "Indeed? "He" is caring and will be the Hokage? I wonder how he will react to this then?" With a flick of his wrist he sent the Kunai flying back like a bullet towards Konohamaru, who seemed completely petrified by the blade coming towards him.

Naruto felt cold fear creep over her as she watched the Kunai fly towards Konohamaru, and without even a rational thought she began to run towards it. The man made no attempt to stop her as she shoved herself into the way of the blade, her arms outstretched and completely covering Konohamaru's body as the Kunai came closer, until it imbedded itself into her gut.

Konohamaru looked up at Naruto, who looked back at him slowly through her bangs which were now slick with sweat. "You alright.. Konohamaru?" The small girl nodded, biting her lip as she looked towards the Kunai in Naruto's gut. Following her gaze she chuckled, patting the girl's head as she began to pant softly, feeling the fox's chakra wash through her system in an attempt to seal the wound. "Don't worry.. I won't die from this." With a grunt she tugged the Kunai free, tossing it to the side as she looked down at her white undershirt, which was now becoming a dark red as her blood spread across it.

She looked up towards the man again, glaring daggers at him. "You dare attempt to hurt Konohamaru..? You bastard." She stated, venom in her voice as she put her fingers together. "No mercy! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" She shouted out and the man felt his eyes widen in shock as he was suddenly surrounded by a vast amount of the girl before him.

His eyes narrowed and he held his sword up, placing both hands on the hilt of his blade. "I see.. So you were not lying." He frowned as the girls' charged towards him, some swinging Kunai and some just throwing punches towards him. He slowly breathed out, his eyes closing. "Consume, Yuumagure." He stated calmly, the blade's orange aura suddenly expanding and surrounding the entire Naruto army that had him surrounded. When the light faded, the only thing left was Konohamaru who was staring with her eyes full of shock at the man, though the man himself seemed confused as he looked back and forth. "I am sure I only absorbed shadows.. So where..?"

He felt his eyes widen as a fist came up from under ground, slamming into his jaw and sending him flying back into the river with his sword spinning around and imbedding itself into the bridge. With her breaths heavy and sweat dripping from her brow the blonde girl grinned, staring at the dumbstruck male in the river. "So take that.. You god..damned..bastard.." She slowly crumpled to the ground, landing face-first into the dirt...

Then everything went black...

0-0-0-0 Prologue Done 0-0-0-0

Yuumagure – Evening Twilight. Creates a vortex of energy around the user that sucks up all other energy and turns it into light. The "User" is able to "feel" where and what he pulled energy from and will receive some of the energy absorbed.


	2. The God's Way

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything really. 

0-0-0-0 Hours Later 0-0-0-0

Naruto groaned, feeling her eyes flicker open as she slowly regained consciousness. She gripped at the ground under her, expecting to feel the normal rough texture of her bed sheets, but instead felt a smooth texture, almost like the silk bedsheets that Jiji had. She frowned, her eyes flickering open as she began to put two and two together and remembered where she had been before falling unconscious.

With a jump she was on her feet, eyes wide and scanning the room. It was rather empty, having only the bed she had been laying on before and a dresser with a large mirror on top of it and a chair in front of that. She frowned looked to her left, seeing that the door was a sliding door.

She began to move towards it when it snapped open, causing her to jump as a short brown-haired girl tackled her, her small arms firmly going around the blonde girl's waist. "Naruto-Nii you're okay! I mean.. I knew you would be but I'm glad you're awake!" Naruto tilted her head, staring down at the brown haired girl who was dressed in a floral pattern Kimono that was a dark green color with a brown trim, she also still had dark blue sandals on her feet. She stuck her tongue out, noticing Naruto's stare. "It's the only thing that the guy had that wasn't too big for me. I know it's girly but.. My clothes were wet.." She looked to the side and Naruto chuckled, realization coming to her eyes.

"I think you look cute Konohamaru." She said with a grin, starting to walk past the blushing girl.

"Hmph! You haven't even seen yourself!" She announced with a grin and Naruto paused, looking down towards herself. She frowned seeing that she was in a silky orange Kimono that went past her feet, dragging onto the ground below. From the V cut that was on the Kimono she could see, and feel, that she was also wearing a bra now which also seemed to be orange. She could see her sandals sitting beside the door, which she hastily slid onto her feet as the wood floor under her was quite cold. She shuddered slightly, biting her lip as she tried to ignore the feeling of being violated wash over her from being changed while unconscious.

"Erm.. Anyways! Where is that Sword guy? And why did he take us in here anyways?" Konohamaru shrugged, tugging on Naruto's hand and leading her down the long hallway that was right outside the door.

"I don't know why, he just said he'd explain when you were awake." She stated, leading the older girl into a small room that had a large table in the center and Konohamaru sat down on her knees on one of the cushions beside the table, her knees going under the small cloth that hung from the table. Naruto's eyes narrowed at the man on the other side of the table, who was lightly swirling a spoon in a cup full of tea.

"Take a seat." He said softly, nodding towards the spot beside Konohamaru. Hesitantly, Naruto lowered herself into a cushion beside Konohamaru. Seeing the two were seated, the man nodded his head. "Your friend here told me everything that happened, and how you two were able to come up here by the use of his..her catapult." Konohamaru twitched at this and Naruto nodded, placing her hands on her knees as the man continued.

"I'm sure you're wondering, one, what this place is and why you are.. as you are." He scanned over Naruto briefly and he arched his eyebrow as a red tint appeared on her cheeks and she placed her hands over the V cut that exposed her chest. Shaking his head, the man began to talk again. "This place is called Ikou Fields and is one of the many relaxation areas that the Gods use, although they have not used this for many years." Konohamaru held her hand up but so did the Ronin, who shook his head slightly. "Please wait till I'm done explaining for any questions, as I might just answer your question anyways." Konohamaru's face fell into a pout but she nodded, her hand brushing over her still spiky hair and she began to unconsciously begin to smooth it.

Clearing his throat, but keeping one eye on both of them, he began again. "The Gods are beings who created the land and rule over it's major functions, such as growth and the overall construct that forms your world... And this is a place they come to to relax after they sort out any major disasters within the land. However they have created many spots such as this, and this one is mostly ignored although I haven't a clue why. Anyways.." He shook his head, sipping his tea and staring into the dark green liquid as he continued. "All of these "Relaxation" lands have one defense mechanism to prevent mortals from wandering into them. There are three layers to this, one that simply keeps them out.. one that keeps them from leaving if they were to enter.. and one that curses those who manage to do so." Both of the girls looked at each other with wide eyes at this, and the man calmly sipped his tea with a soft chuckle.

"I know what you are thinking:I can't stay here forever. Yes?" They both nodded towards him, and he shook his head. "I am the caretaker of these fields, as that is what I was chosen to do by the Gods, and thus I have the key to exit.. However, I will not do so lightly..and I have not finished my story." He sipped his tea once more before placing the cup to the side, completely empty of it's contents.

Both girls gave him hard stares but remained quiet and he smiled at this, beginning to stand up. "The curse you two share may not actually be a curse, as there does not seem to be a second part to the curse." Seeing their confused looks he sighed, turning around. "To explain this better, I will tell you of a time when two others had entered this place and were cursed just as you were.. although their curses were much more powerful due to it being an actual God rather than a seal that placed it on them."

He began to walk back and forth, his hands clasped behind his back. "two men entered this place centuries ago, one was intent on finding any treasure in the fore-told "Unclimbable Mountain" and the other was there to look for herbs and someway to benefit mankind... and himself."

"When they finally reached their destination they found neither treasure nor herbs..but the very Gods themselves. The Gods saw them, completely taken by surprise at the mortals standing before them. The last caretaker, a God herself, threw a curse on them that reflected their inner and most personal thoughts... The men were full of corruption, and the Curse reacted as such, turning them both into beings far beyond what would be called Human.."

The Ronin glanced over, smirking very slightly at how they were both seeming to be on the edge of their seats, their eyes full of excitement, wonder, and, in pale blue eyes that stared into his own sadness. Putting it away for questioning later, he continued. "They were still allowed their human form but they were also both immortal, with completely opposite circumstances... One was forced to remain here for the rest of his time, and the other.. was allowed to roam free in the world, completely and utterly immune to anything that could cause him harm." The two girls gasped at this, and Naruto suddenly shouted, forgetting that she said she would remain quiet.

"How is that fair! One loses everything he had, and the other gets to go back! How is that even a curse!" At this the Ronin sighed, shaking his head.

"There was a time I would ask the same thing..but years later I received the answer." He sat down slowly again, placing his hands together and leaning his forehead against them. "Years later, nearly a hundred and fifty three years later... The immortal man who was allowed to wander free returned to this place to speak to the Gods." The girls glanced at each other and then hastily looked back as he began to speak once more. "He was a broken man, his eyes lost and hollow, despite that his body was a perfect balance power and agility and looked to be completely healthy, but it was his mind that was completely broken."

"The Gods questioned his return, and his only answer was one sentence: "I have seen my loved ones die, while I live, I have seen countless die, while I live, I have died in more ways than they have lived..and I am tired." Soon after, he begged for the Gods to remove his curse, to allow him to age or to simply kill him out right and release him from the torment that they plagued him with, and they obliged.. setting him free of the curse and allowing him to live out his days until he finally died of a disease that plagued the land." He slowly looked up at their awed-faces while his own stayed behind his hands, keeping his expression hidden from them.

"W.. What about the other guy..that was forced to stay here? Where is he?" Konohamaru asked, her small hands grasping at her Kimono. The man did not answer, but instead it was Naruto who spoke up, her blue eyes shining in realization.

"You're the other one.. You're cursed to stay here, and you're completely immortal." The man chuckled softly, nodding his head.

"Indeed.. You are wise for someone so young." He slowly stood up, patting down his kimono. "My name is Yuzzuna and I am the Caretaker of this land.. and I am a mortal that is unable to die." He sighed slightly, looking towards them. "You, however, are completely different. You are both blessed, not cursed, as you both share a pure heart and did not come up here with ill intentions." Naruto stood up at this, her eyes wide and her hands slamming on the table.

"Blessed! I'm a god damned girl! How is that blessed!" Yuzzuna held his hand up, shaking his head.

"I do not know you, but from what this blessing implies about you... You wished to be someone else." Naruto stumbled back at this, her eyes wide at the sudden words and Konohamaru seemed completely paralyzed as Yuzzuna continued. "You both wished to have a fresh start, to be someone no one could judge falsely as they have no idea of your past.. Someone who is completely who they want to be in the eyes of others." Naruto fell to her butt at this, realization coming into her eyes along with Konohamaru's, as they both looked at each other with shock.

Clearing his throat to get their attention once more, he began to speak again. "As I said before.. it is entirely possibly for you two to leave here but first there are certain conditions that must be met before this.. and I would not worry about the time-frame. Time is as slow or fast as I want it to be here, although I can not make it reverse." The two nodded slowly, and Yuzzuna clapped his hands twice.

There was a soft tapping as a young woman ,wearing a kimono that matched Yuzzuna's perfectly, walked into the staring down at the two girls with thoughtful and caring eyes. "Although she and Konohamaru have already met, I will introduce her anyways.. This is Ayumi, she is the one that changed you and helped Konohamaru into her clothing." Naruto slowly stood up, a light blush on her cheeks at the thought of the girl having seen her naked, especially since Naruto herself had yet to see her new body in it's birthday suit.

"I am Naruto miss.. um.. pleasure to meet you." Ayumi simply smiled and nodded, giving the blonde a slight bow.

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well Naru-san." Naruto flinched at this but Ayumi seemed to take no mind. "I will be teaching you both how you need to act like as women.. They are far different than males when it comes to things as.. using the restroom." She said with a giggle, watching the two girl's faces light up in a rose-colored blush.

Yuzzuna coughed once to get their attention and nodded towards them. "This is the first condition.. You must learn your new bodies by tomorrow. Ayumi will explain things, and when she is done you will put them in practice.. After that I will come and escort you two to the training hall so that you may work on your balance and get used to fighting in those bodies." The two slowly nodded as Ayumi beckoned them to follow her, and as they did Yuzzuna sat back down, staring at his empty tea cup.

With a small seal and a flick of his wrist the cup was full again and he calmly sipped it, awaiting the time for him to visit them.

0-0-0-0 Hours later 0-0-0-0

Yuzzuna slowly slid open the door to the Grand Bathroom, teasing cries of "Yuzzuna you pervert!" coming from the numerous females that inhabited it. Laughing as he dodged the towels and bottles of shampoo flying towards him, he continued on towards the large bath that was sized to be a miniature lake inside the house.

The females began to ignore him, as they had all long sense gotten used to him walking in and he never seemed to even try staring or touching them, in fact he treated them all as if they were wearing clothing, despite their assets being in full view.

A moment later he opened another door, right beside the large bath which was connected to a smaller but still rather large hot spring and he was immediately greeted by a large bucket hitting him directly in the face, which fell off a moment later with a small thump as a loud voice shouted towards him.

"I said no you damned women! I am not letting you touch my hair or face!" There were two giggles followed by this as the voice fell into a confused tone as the real victim was revealed. "Wha.. Yuzzuna? But that.. Hey wait!" There was a splash and Yuzzuna sighed as he watched a naked blonde slip into the hot springs, her cold eyes narrowed towards him. "What the hell are you doing here! This is the girl's baths!"

Sighing, and rubbing his sore face, he continued to walk into the room while barely glancing over Konohamaru who was sitting in Ayumi's lap, her large chest pressing into the smaller girl's back, causing her to be completely red in the face. Shaking his head, he looked down towards the blonde, his hands resting behind his head. "Actually this is a mixed-bath, and hot spring, due to me being the only male here and that Gods are anything but modest." Naruto flinched at this but did not lessen her glare.

Ayumi giggled, her hands running through Konohamaru's thin hair. "I brought them in here to get used to seeing other females naked..and see themselves of course. Naru-San reacted poorly until I told them that she used to be a male.. Then they were all over her and she seemed much more relaxed that they accepted her." Naruto flinched and huffed, jumping up and seeming to forget Yuzzuna's presence.

"That's not true! Those girls tried to do things to me!" Ayumi just giggled while Konohamaru smiled, giggling herself.

"Naruto-Nii, you're showing off.." the smaller brown-haired girl only received a look of confusion from the blonde before her brain suddenly registered Yuzzuna still standing there, his eyebrows arched up. She squeeked, rather loudly, and dove back into the water so that only her head was showing to the Ronin.

He sighed, shaking his head. "I can see you're adapting well.. Anyways, once you are ready get dressed and come outside. I'll be waiting." He turned on his heel and began to walk out, ignoring Naruto's tongue sticking out towards him as she crossed her arms, a small 'hmph' escaping her lips.

Ayumi giggled, gripping the small girl on her lap and lifting her up as she began to stand, causing Naruto to blush while Konohamaru wiggled back and forth, trying to free herself from Ayumi's grasp. "Well it isn't polite to keep him waiting girls, I do hope you remember all what I told you." Naruto just turned her head, a red blush on her face.

"Yeah yeah.. We'll remember all that stuff.. Periods and what not." She grumbled softly, stepping out of the hot spring and drying off with a towel that had been laying to the side. Ayumi smiled, putting Konohamaru on her feet outside the hot spring and getting out herself, grabbing a towel and using it to dry off Konohamaru, despite her protests that she could do it herself.

Naruto smiled at the scene a bit, grasping her Kimono in her hands and with practiced ease she swung it on, tying the thin sash around her waist. She glanced at Ayumi who was looking at her with a smile on her face as she helped Konohamaru back into her Kimono, as it had taken Naruto nearly a half hour to figure out how to put on the Kimono without any hassle, and Konohamaru still hadn't been able to figure it out.

After the two were dressed Ayumi slowly dressed herself, smiling down at them and taking their hands into hers. She didn't comment on the wide-eyed look Naruto gave her as she led them out of the room but she giggled as Naruto dodged several hands trying to grab her from the numerous females still bathing, though some missed on purpose just to mess with her.

When they got out of the bath they were greeted by the sight of Yuzzuna talking to a small girl that was around Konohamaru's height, with thin black hair that went to her mid-neck and she was wearing a smaller version of the same Kimono that Ayumi and Yuzzuna were wearing. "Ah just in time.." He motioned down towards the girl who waved, smiling at them much like Ayumi does. "This is Yuna, she will be Konohamaru's sparing partner. Also, she is Ayumi's little sister." The two returned her smile and Konohamaru held her hand out, which was grasped by Yuna who shook it with a smile.

"Pleased to meet you both. I am sorry to hear about your curse, but I can see you're getting used to it." Yuna said, her sweet voice sounding much older and mature than her size gave away.

Naruto chuckled slightly as Yuzzuna beckoned for them to follow as he began to walk down the hallway, the females in tow. "It's a little difficult to wrap my head around but.. I don't know, it seems a little natural to me now."

Ayumi nodded at this, clasping her hands in front of her as she walked. "Indeed, you picked up what I taught you rather quickly." Konohamaru huffed at this, turning her head, causing the older woman to giggle and pat Konohamaru's head softly. "You will get the hang of it too Kona-San."

Konohamaru stuck her tongue out. "My name isn't Kona! And.." She slipped her tongue back into her mouth and tilted her head. "I've been meaning to ask but.. if Yuzzuna is a human, what are you?" Ayumi stared at the girl for a moment before smiling, her eyes forming until upside down U's.

"Why, I'm a Demi-Goddess." There were two rather loud 'Ehhhhs!' from the two as Yuzzuna shook his head and the other two females giggled, obviously enjoying the dumb-struck faces that the two were giving Ayumi. "There are many Demi-Gods in the relaxation lands, as we handle much of the work to keep it healthy and make sure the Gods are able to relax to their fullest when they come here. In fact, every female here is a Demi-Goddess." Ayumi explained, smiling still as Yuzzuna walked into a room, the others still following close behind, the two females staring at her with wide eyes still.

"We're here." He said, catching the attention of the two who stopped to look around at the room. It was rather bare but very large, only having a few cushions to the side to sit on and two weapon wracks that had many Katanasheld in it. "Naruto, you will be fighting Ayumi." He said suddenly, turning towards them with his hands behind his back. "And Konohamaru will be fighting Yuna. Do not use any techniques, use your body. You need to get used to it's movements before you can actively use your chakra." The two glanced at each other as Demi-God sisters walked to the middle of the room, followed by Konohamaru and Naruto who stood a few feet away.

Yuzzuna stood between them, looking back and forth. "Remember that neither of you should hold back, Ayumi and Yuna can not die, and we have heavy medical equipment should any of you get hurt." The four nodded, and Yuzzuna stepped back. "You may begin."

Ayumi was the first to move, her eyes closed and a smile on her face as she appeared in front of Naruto, who jerked back in surprise at the speed but hastily moved her head to the right as Ayumi's palm slid through the area where her head had been. The blonde hastily made some distance between her and Ayumi, only to block a heavy kick with her arms that caused her to skid across the ground from the force behind it.

Twitching, she glanced at Konohamaru who was dodging Yuna's blows left and right but the brown-haired Academy student was already showing bruises on her arms and face from Yuna's strong blows. Naruto was brought from her thoughts as a fist slammed into her stomach, followed by a foot in her face as she gasped. She flew back again, one eye closed as she slammed her hands to the ground and flipped herself to her feet, panting slightly.

"Pay attention to yourself, Naruto." Ayumi said sweetly, beginning to move towards the blonde again. Naruto panted still, her eye slowly closing as the woman grew closer.

'_Focus, Naruto.. This body is still yours.. I am still Naruto Uzumaki.. and I will not lose..I will become the Hokage!'_ Her eyes snapped open as blue chakra flowed through her body, and she met Ayumi's charge head on, surprising the woman but not putting her off guard as she moved to block the punch that Naruto aimed towards her face.

However, the blonde wasn't done as she spun around on one leg, slamming her foot into Ayumi's side and sending her onto the ground with a soft grunt, though she hastily got up and frowned towards Naruto, her back bent slightly and she seemed to be waiting for Naruto to move. Naruto, however, was staring at her hands with shock written on her features and Yuzzuna was smirking slightly, holding his chin with one hand.

_'This body is faster.. So much faster, but weaker. I should have been able to go through her block, but instead I simply assaulted where she couldn't block because I was faster. I get it.'_ Clenching her hands into fists she narrowed her eyes towards the woman and charged once more. _'I can't rely on blocking or hitting them enough to pound through their defenses, I have to think.. I have to be faster!'_ Ayumi charged as well, the two meeting head on, each exchanging blows rather rapidly but neither of them landing a hit on the other as they always moved their body at the last moment to dodge.

Konohamaru, however, was fairing much worse. The smaller child was narrowly dodging each blow and was unable to even take a swing back before having to dodge another. Yuna smirked slamming her hand into the girl's stomach, causing her to fall over onto the ground with a soft gasp escaping her lips. "Are you done, Konohamaru?" Her question seemed to fall on deaf ears as the girl slowly began to raise up until she was on her hands and knees, her breath heavy and fast.

_'She's so much stronger than me..and definitely hits harder than Hanabi-Chan does. I don't get it.. Am I really this weak? Or is she just really strong?'_ Konohamaru questioned quietly in her head, slowly raising to her feet. She glanced over towards Naruto, her eyes a little wide at seeing the fast blows the two were exchanging and that Naruto was actually pushing Ayumi back until she met a wall. She could see Ayumi's eyes widen in surprise as Naruto's foot slammed into her side, sending her sprawling onto her side before quickly flipping up to her feet and re-engaging the blonde.

"She's quite good, although Ayumi hasn't fought anyone for a long time so she's a bit rusty." Yuna said, her side to Konohamaru as she watched the two exchange blows. She glanced over at Konohamaru who clenched her fists, staring towards Yuna with her eyes narrowed. "You still wish to continue? I don't mind." She smiled, putting her fist up as she stared at Konohamaru.

_'I can't be a weakling.. I will be Hokage, right after Naruto-Nii.. So I have to get stronger. I'll train till my arms fall off, and my legs become jello!'_ She thought to herself, her fist meeting Yuna's as they re-engaged with each other. Yuna smiled feeling the powerful blows slam into her own, her eyes narrowed despite her smile as she landed several blows on Konohamaru, however she winced as she felt the girl land a few of her own.

Yuzzuna, seeing that neither spar was going to end soon, sat down and slid his blade free of it's invisible sheath, running his hand along the orange blade as he watched the four females fight.

0-0-0-0 Half 'N' Hour later 0-0-0-0

All four females were laying on their backs in front of Yuzzuna, each one sporting several bruises and panting heavily. Chuckling at them, he clapped his hands together to get their attention, which they slowly gave him. "Now that you are all done... I believe this would be the correct time to have dinner." Naruto jumped up at this, her eyes wide and a smile on her face.

"Yay! Food! I'm starved! There's ramen right?" She asked with a nearly childish glee as Konohamaru smiled beside her, raising to her feet as well.

"You're still you, huh Naruto-nii?" She asked with a teasing smile. "Ramen this ramen that~" She giggled at the 'hmph' Naruto gave back, her arms crossing under her chest.

"Ramen is the food of the Gods. I don't care what anyone else says." Yuzzuna chuckled at this, walking towards the exit while pausing to help Ayumi and Yuna to their feet.

"There will be ramen, but I highly suggest you eat something other than that." Naruto frowned as she moved to follow him, the others close behind, as he began his way down the hallway again. Before she could comment he began to speak again. "Eating ramen once and awhile isn't that bad for you but eating it all the time will seriously hurt you in the future... although it seems to have done it's fair amount of damage already."

Naruto scoffed at this, turning her head. "It's not my fault it is all I had to eat, and is still all I have to eat." Yuzzuna glanced at her briefly while Konohamaru looked to the side with a slight glum look on her face... But none of them commented.

0-0-0-0 Moments Later 0-0-0-0

The group arrived at a very large room that had a long table that filled up most of it. Naruto gasped at the sight of all the females, of varying shape, sizes, and beauty, sitting at the table on small cushions. All of them were laughing and talking to each other and a couple of them waved with smiles as the four entered the room.

Yuzzuna smiled and waved back, the others soon following with Ayumi and Yuna taking a seat beside each other near the far end of the table. Naruto and Konohamaru looked back and forth for a place they could sit when Yuzzuna suddenly tugged them down the room until they were both sitting across from each other with Naruto beside Ayumi and Konohamaru beside Yuna.

"Now then." He said softly, his voice barely talking over the girl's chatter. However, as soon as he spoke they fell quiet, still smiling and a few whispering to each other as he smiled at them. "I believe you have been acquainted but our new guests are Naruto and Konohamaru. They are mortals and will be staying with us for some time until they have met my conditions. If you haven't said hello now, go ahead and do so now before Kasumi comes in with dinner."

The Demi-Goddesses laughed at this and each of them said hello to both Naruto and Konohamaru, each asking them things like "What do you do with your hair?" and "Want to stay in my bed tonight cutie?", causing both of the girls in question to blush and mutter out replies, both unused to having such attention.

Suddenly there was a loud _bang_ that echoed across the room and all of the females covered their ears, although Naruto was the one wincing with her hands closed tightly around her ears. They all glanced up at the source of the bang, despite most of them knowing what caused it without even looking.

"Now that I have your attention..." Said a voice that was very sweet and calming, but had a hint of irritation in it. The source was a brown-haired woman who had her hair in a braid that was slung over her left shoulder. Her eyes were closed and she was wearing the same Kimono that all of the Demi-Goddesses, and Yuzzuna, were wearing. In her hands was a frying pan and a large black ladle which she had banged together to make the noise. "Dinner is served" She said with a smile on her face, and the girls laughed while Naruto and Konohamaru stared in awe as plates and bowls began to spontaneously appear in front of them, followed by a glass and several bottles of wine, sake, sodas, and fruit drinks.

"W.. Whooaaa how did that happen!" Konohamaru yelled out, surprise in her voice and on her face. Her hands wandered over to a loaf of bread and she seemed completely taken back by the fact that she could touch it. "It's not a Genjutsu that's for sure."

Naruto, however, was already slurping down a bowl of ramen with a grin on her face however she was suddenly slapped by Ayumi who frowned at her, waving her finger as if scolding her. "Bad Naru-Chan.. Eat slowly, with some dignity.. You're getting a mess everywhere and you'll never impress boys like that!" She sighed wiping the pouting girl's face with a rag.

"I don't care about stuff like that.. Besides I like girls." She said with a shrug causing Ayumi to giggle slightly as several girls said "Ooohh!", causing the blonde to blush and hastily add. "G.. Girls my age!" There were several "Awws" at this, followed by teasing giggles.

Naruto scoffed again, starting to lift up her bowl again only to pause as she felt a cold chill wash down her spine and she glanced over towards Ayumi who was staring at her with her eyes half open but a small smile on her face. Shivering, Naruto slowly spun the noodles around her chop sticks before slowly slurping them into her mouth. She paused briefly and began to slowly slurp again, her lips tilted up into a smile.

Yuzzuna arched his eyebrows at her while he sipped a cup of tea. "You seem to enjoy going slow as you enjoy going fast." He commented quietly and Naruto pulled the chopsticks away from her mouth briefly with a smile still on her features.

"I guess I never took the time to really taste the ramen, it tastes way better when I take my time eating it." Konohamaru slapped her forehead at this, shaking her head with her cheeks puffed up a bit with bread. She was about to comment with Yuna put her hand over the girl's mouth, shaking her head.

"Ayumi-Onee will attack you if you talk with your mouth full." She said quietly into the girl's ear, flinching as Ayumi glanced at her briefly and just giving a nervous wave as she turned back around towards Naruto.

"So why did you have to eat so fast in the first place, Naru-Chan?" Ayumi asked quietly, unknowingly attracting the attention of much of the females as Naruto answered.

"Oh, I never knew when I'd get in trouble so I tried to eat fast so I could go back home." She answered, a smile on her face still despite her words as she began to slurp the ramen again. Yuzzuna and Ayumi exchanged glances for a moment before Ayumi spoke again.

"And why would you get in trouble for eating out, Naru-Chan?" She frowned noticing the slight flinch and sagging of Naruto's shoulders and the glum look on Konohamaru's face.

Lowering her chopsticks, she began to slowly swirl the pieces of wood around in the broth left in her bowl. Seeing she wasn't going to answer, Yuzzuna suddenly spoke up. "Forgetting that, I have been wondering for awhile how your wounds are able to heal so quickly.. and that weird chakra that you had around you when we fought outside." He immediately regretted asking as he saw her hand suddenly clench, a loud _snap_ echoing through the room causing it to become silent.

Naruto simply stared at her hand, which was trickling blood into her bowl from the wood pieces lodged within her skin. She slowly opened her palm, removing them one by one and there was a _hiss_ sound as the wounds sealed themselves shut. Suddenly she smiled up at Yuzzuna, tilting her head. "Oh, um.. Could I go use the bathroom. I haven't really had a chance to since the spar." Yuzzuna narrowed his eyes, slowly putting his cup down.

"Naruto.. I will say this once before I let you go." Naruto flinched but her smile didn't falter as Yuzzuna turned his cold gaze towards her. "No one here will judge you on whatever it is you are hiding, including Konohamaru." Konohamaru looked up at her name being said, and as Naruto glanced at her she just smiled and nodded. Her attention was brought back to Yuzzuna as he spoke again. "And I understand if you do not want to tell us... Now go." He waved slightly and Naruto stood up, slowly walking out of the room with her head slightly hung.

As the door closed behind her, none of the women began talking. They remained quiet, and simply stared at the door that she had just left from and watched her silhouette walk down the hallway towards the bathroom.

0-0-0-0 The Bathroom 0-0-0-0

Naruto slowly slid into the bathroom, her hands balled up into fists as she slowly walked over towards one of the many sinks and looked into the mirror that hung over it. She frowned watching the blonde hair fall into the feminine face that looked back at her, the blue eyes brimming with tears.

Suddenly, without warning, she slammed her fist into the glass, resulting in loud _snap_ sounds echoing across the empty bathroom followed by soft _clang_ sounds as the shards fell onto the ground. Moments later there was a dull _drip_ as blood fell from the glass shard wounds in her skin. She slowly plucked the glass shards out, dropping them onto the ground and she watched as the wounds slowly sealed themselves shut with a dull _hiss_.

She looked back up towards the remains of the mirror, her eyes being the only thing reflected by the remaining shards. Suddenly, the bright blue eyes slowly changed into a dull red with a slitted pupil and she gasped, jumping back with her hand over the seal on her stomach and the other resting on the rim of the sink.

_'Get out of here Demon!'_

_'We don't serve your kind!'_

_'Don't play with him Mike, he's very bad..'_

_'If I ever see you on my doorstep again I kill you myself you god damned Demon!'_

_'You are the Kyuubi! That's why everyone hates you! Now die, Demon!'_

She clenched her head and shook it back and forth, trying to clear her head of the memories, as she heard a dull laughter ringing inside her head. _**"Come on child.. Are you losing yourself so easily?" **_Her eyes widened at the words, and she put her hands on the rim of the sink once more, grasping it tightly.

"Shut up.. You stupid fox.. It's all your fault my life was like that.." At her words there was only silence, before a dull chuckle entered her head briefly.

"_**Perhaps.. Perhaps. However.."**_ She could feel the large fox grin in her head, almost like a cat. **_"You have a new life.. and here you are sniffling and crying like the child you are trying not to be."_** She glared at the mirror, seeing the red eyes of the Fox looking back at her.

"Shut up! I am not weak.. I am not crying! I am not a child anymore!" Another laugh was her answer and she could see amusement in it's eyes.

"_**Oh? It is strong to hide the truth with the fear lingering that they may not accept you? Ha! They either accept you, or they don't. I am apart of you, Naruto." **_Her eyes narrowed at this and she could feel the fox grinning once more. **_"Yes.. I am completely apart of you now, Kit. It is time you realized this.. No, it is time you embraced it. I will forever be apart of you, worrying whether or not someone will accept you because of me is like me worrying that you would accept me because I have nine tails. It isn't going to change, and it will forever be apart of me." _**

Naruto stared at the fox, her mind completely blank as it seemed to slowly process into her head before she felt herself slowly smile, a sad smile.. but a smile none the less. She slowly laughed, throwing her head back and she was soon joined by the Fox and she grinned, closing her eyes and pressing her fist against the remains of the mirror. "That's the first time I've gotten good advise from you, Fox.. You're not so bad after all."

There was a _woosh_ and Naruto felt her hair being blown to the side, and over her shoulder as she opened her eyes in shock seeing a piece of mirror now in front of her fist, the reflection of a large paw balled up pressing against it. _**"To you as well, Kit. I may be the greatest of all Demons and it may have taken me this long to realize this but... We are forever partners."**_ Naruto grinned, nodding her head.

"Yeah.. perhaps one day you can tell me why you really attacked Konoha. You seem too stuck up to just go on a rampage." She grinned as he narrowed his eyes, amusement still reflected in them.

"_**Perhaps.. Now go.. You are leaving everyone on the edge of their fluffy seats."**_ Naruto nodded, turning towards the door and running towards it, however she paused briefly and glanced back at the now empty mirror, which was now completely repaired as if nothing ever happened.

She smiled, sliding a strand of hair behind her ear. "Thanks, Kyu." She said softly, walking out the door and closing it behind her, heading back down the hallway towards the dining room.

0-0-0-0 Moments Later 0-0-0-0

Naruto entered the silent room without a word, smiling and waving towards everyone before sitting down back in her seat, letting out a heavy sigh as she looked up towards them. "The truth is.. Everyone in my village hates me." Everyone was staring at her with wide eyes, but did not interrupt as she continued to speak. "It has been that way since I was born, as I was thrown into a circumstance that was completely out of my control." She sighed, pausing a moment before shaking her head.

"Fifteen years ago.. The Kyuubi attacked Konoha village." There was still silence as the listener's felt their eyes widen even further. "The Kyuubi rampaged the land, killing many ninja and villagers alike and was completely bent on destroying the village entirely. However..."

"The Fourth Hokage, the Leader of the village at the time, fought the beast and managed to defeat it.. However, this is not to say that he destroyed it, but rather put it somewhere that it couldn't escape from." She paused again, looking down as she couldn't bring herself to meet their eyes. "And the only place that he could seal it to without worry of it being released again was a newborn child.. Me." She paused again, gripping the fabric of her Kimono.

"Doing this, however, cost the life of the Fourth. He gave his life to protect the village, and the village, in turn, turned all their anger towards me.. thinking that I was the Fox incarnate. Parents told their children not to play with me, Shop owners turned me away, and overall, the entire village hated me except for a select few who either didn't know, or could see past it. Even on my birthday I was alone, except for the few nights that a drunk would come from the "Defeat of the Kyuubi" festival to throw their bottles at my window. The current Hokage, the Third, put a law so that if anyone spoke of it except for myself or him, they would be executed..but..still.." She turned her head away, briefly glancing over towards Konohamaru who was staring at her with wide eyes and she smiled towards the brown-haired girl, a sad twinkle in her eyes. "Sorry, Konohamaru.."

This seemed to wake the girl in question, as she jumped up with a large smile on her face. "That's awesome!" Naruto blinked at the grinning girl who was, nodding with her arms crossed. "I was totally right to have to be my boss, Boss~! Remind me to punch that old man when we get back for not telling me how awesome you are sooner!" She grinned, nodding still.

Naruto stared at the girl in wonder, feeling tears flowing down her cheeks as she nodded, smiling. "Y.. Yeah.. Thanks Konohamaru." She said softly, glancing over towards Ayumi who softly patted the girl on the shoulder. Naruto smiled gratefully over towards her as Yuzzuna raised his cup to the air.

"I have several things to say, but only a few really matter. First, I want to thank you, Naruto, for trusting us." The girl nodded a little meekly, staring at the man who smiled at her. "Second, although it may be a tad late and a bit too sudden.." He glanced towards Kasumi who had been seated somewhere near the middle and she giggled at him, clapping her hands together.

Suddenly the lights dimmed and the two Konoha-Nin looked back and forth in confusion until suddenly there was a bright light and several bowls of ice cream and chocolate cake appeared on the table, but the largest bowls and pieces of cake were in front of Naruto and Konohamaru, and there was a large lit candle on top of the cake.

Naruto stared in wonder as Yuzzuna clapped his hands together, earning the attention of the females in the room again. "Now before I announce what the occasion is for this sudden change.. even if most of you know what it is." Here he paused to let the Demi-Goddesses giggle at him, which he smirked at slightly. "I want to ask you, Konohamaru, and you, Naruto, to answer a question I have for you." The two tilted their heads at him as he sighed slightly.

"This may dampen the mood some, so I apologize, but with you two both starting new lives as females.. I ask you what would you like your names to be." Naruto flinched at this while Konohamaru frowned, looking towards the cake between her and Naruto.

"I.. I don't know, I mean.. do we have to change our names? That's a bit.." Naruto started, however she was interrupted by Konohamaru's voice cutting in.

"Naruto-Nii.." The blonde looked over towards her young companion who was smiling sadly towards her. "We're different now, Naruto-Nii.. and I think Yuzzuna is right, we can't go back to what we were so we might as well deal with what we have." Naruto's eyes widened at this and she briefly thought back to what the Kyuubi had just told her moments ago.

"_**It is time you realized this... No, it is time you embraced it."**_

"_**It isn't going to change, and it will forever be apart of me." **_

Letting out a shaky sigh she nodded, smiling towards Yuzzuna. "Okay fine, you win. We'll come up with names for ourselves.. But whats this cake for?" Yuzzuna smiled, nodding towards the cake in question.

"Well, I had hoped you would name yourself here and now so that it could be completely official, but having it a little early won't change anything.. But.. Happy Birthday." Naruto's eyes widened into saucers as she stared at the cake and Ayumi smiled, patting her on the back.

"Make a wish." She stated simply and Naruto looked back and forth towards all the women who were staring at her with soft smiles on their faces, completely different from the cold and heartless frowns she had received for most of her life from the villager's of Konoha.

With her eyes brimming with tears and a smile on her face she slowly leaned up towards the cake, blowing out the candle slowly and she continued to stare at the burnt out candle as Kasumi summoned small party-poppers to pop over everyone's heads. She laughed as Yuzzuna clapped his hands together and everyone began to sing 'Happy Birthday', and moments later everyone began to eat once again.

Naruto laughed, listening to a joke one of the Demi-Goddesses was telling another and grinned as she saw Konohamaru and Yuna flicking food at each other, and Ayumi was lecturing Yuzzuna about putting his elbows on the table, to which he could only roll his eyes at.

Smiling with her mouth full of cake, she glanced back at the candle with her wish still fresh in her mind.

_'I wish.. I wish that I could always have a home here..'_

0-0-0-0 That Night 0-0-0-0

Yuzzuna sighed as he watched Ayumi tuck Konohamaru into the small futon, and he knelled down to place the blonde in his arms in the futon beside Konohamaru's. Ayumi smiled towards him and nodded, both of them quietly exiting the room. "You did a good thing." She whispered quietly, closing the door as the man chuckled softly, shaking his head.

"I attacked them and nearly killed them.. Hearing that story and realizing how wrong I was about her... It just felt like the right thing to do, Ayumi." He said softly, leaning against the wall as she smiled, hugging his arm.

"You're always so caring, even if you can be kind of air headed when it comes to Demons." She giggled at his sigh and she began to lead him down the hallway, tugging on his arm "So what are your plans with them anyways?"

"Simple.." He said softly, placing the arm she was holding around her waist. "I plan on making sure they're used to their bodies, train them to be even better, and perhaps.." He paused as she pushed herself against him and he chuckled softly. "Perhaps teaching them the way of the sword.. Even though you're better at it than I am." She grinned at this, tugging on his Kimono and pulling him into her room.

"Yeah, I'm much better at handling your sword." She said with a teasing grin as he blushed, the door closing behind him.

It wasn't too long after this that he found himself laying in her bed, blushing still.

0-0-0-0 The Next Day 0-0-0-0

"Hyaaa!" Naruto yelled, slamming her fist into Yuzzuna's open palm. The three of them, Konohamaru, Yuzzuna, and Naruto, had all gone to the training room as soon as they woke, as Yuzzuna had been "kind" enough to wake them with Kasumi's pot and ladle.

"Too weak. Again." He said and Naruto yelled again as she pumped chakra into her fist, sending the man skidding back slightly as her palm hit him. "Again." He said, glancing towards Konohamaru who was doing sit ups to the side, quietly counting under her breath after each one. He felt himself skid across the ground again and he looked back towards Naruto. "You call that a punch? I've been pushed around by wind stronger then you." Naruto growled and slammed her fist even harder into his hand, and he felt his feet being pushed off the ground as he was sent flying back, slamming into the wall at the far end of the room.

He smiled at her and pulled himself free of the wall, rubbing his wrist slightly. "Not bad, it seems you're learning that technique quite fast." He said with a smile as she grinned, nodding.

"Yeah! Thanks Yuzzuna.. How did you get this scroll though?" She asked, holding up a purple scroll that contained a Strength Modifying technique inside it. What mostly confused her though was the Slug and Konoha symbol pasted near the bottom of the technique's instructions.

He blinked at her before putting his fist into his palm. "Ah! Yes, I completely forgot that you two have not yet seen our library. Come." He waved his hand towards Konohamaru who raised to her feet, and he smiled at her as the two began to follow him out of the room. "How many did you get to, Konohamaru?"

"Two hundred and.." she panted lightly, sweat going down her brow. "eleven." He nodded, patting her head slightly causing the girl to scoff and turn her head away. Suddenly her eyes seem to light up as she looked up towards the man. "Hey, I was wondering.. What did you do with my scarf?"

Naruto's ears perked up at this as she felt for her forehead, noticing that her Forehead protector was not there either. "And my headband!" She asked, frowning and Yuzzuna rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"I used them." The two tilted their heads at this and he sighed slightly. "The best way to start out your new life was to make sure no one thought you were alive.. Thus, I used them to fake your death." Naruto and Konohamaru frowned at this, both of them looking down and Yuzzuna sighed slightly. "You wouldn't have gotten them back anyways, Ayumi was especially keen on throwing them away because of how dirty they were."

The two gave slight chuckles at this, and he sighed as he opened a door suddenly, instantly taking their mind off the subject as they stared into the room in front of them. The entire place was lined with book shelves, all of them as tall as Naruto could reach but the rows seemed to go on forever as there was no end in sight. "W.. What is this place?" Naruto asked, looking around with her eyes wide as Yuzzuna smiled, nodding towards the shelves.

"This is the Grand Library. It is updated every day with books and scrolls that people in the real world, and even Gods, write. You could even find secret documents here, or documents that were thought to be lost. The only documents we do not have are documents that were destroyed on this side by the God of Fire when he attempted to read them." They laughed at this as Naruto held up the scroll he had gave her to study, which he took from her hands and placed on one of the many shelves without even looking.

"I don't really like reading though, training is more of my thing." He raised his eyebrows at her and he smiled, walking down the rows before plucking two books from the bookshelves.

"Have you actually read a book, Naruto?" She flinched at this and frowned as he shoved a large book into her hands, and another into Konohamaru's. "Since it's early, you two will read these books and then we will resume training. I want you both to read a book a day, or more if you feel like it. This library is always open to you." He said smiling as they both gave him dirty looks.

"I'd rather just go back to training.." Konohamaru said with a huff as he chuckled softly while Naruto nodded in agreement.

"Tell you what.. If you both read at least two books today, starting with the two I just gave you, I will allow you to choose two Jutsu scrolls of your choosing." The two looked at each other and grinned, nodding and Yuzzuna pointed to their left. "There's tables over there, feel free to use them but do remain quiet.. This is a library." They stuck their tongues out at him and made their way to the table, sitting beside each other on the wooden chairs.

"So what book did he give you?" Konohamaru asked, opening up the book she was given. "He gave me 'The Essence'" Naruto tilted her head as she brushed dust off the cover of her book, her eyes widening at the title.

"It's called.. The Uzumaki Lore book." She said slowly, and Konohamaru looked up briefly with an odd look in her eyes.

"You should let me read that when you're done.. It sounds interesting." Naruto just nodded, flipping to the first page of the book and reading the only sentence posted on the page.

_'My name is Uzumaki Fubuki, and this is my story.'_

0-0-0-0 Hours Later 0-0-0-0

Yuzzuna walked back into the room, intent on telling the two females that dinner would be ready soon but he paused as he saw the two staring intently towards a book that Naruto held, their eyes seeming to be glued to the pages. He sighed slightly and looked around, his eyebrows arching as he noted several books stacked to the side, each one showing signs of recently being opened and on top of one pile there was a piece of paper that read "Naruto's" and another on a different pile that read "Konohamaru's".

He slowly walked over towards the two and patted the table, gaining their attention moments after the action had been completed. "I see you two have enjoyed your reading.." He said softly, a smile on his face as he looked down towards the book in Naruto's hand. "That's the book I gave you isn't it? Did you not read it first?"

Naruto paused, her mouth opened slightly before she slowly closed the book, nodding. "I did read it first.. But I had to read it again." He nodded smiling.

"And those piles over there are books you two have read in the few hours I left you here?" They nodded at this and he felt his eyebrows arch again. "How, may I ask, did you read them all so fast? There's at least five books in those piles.."

Konohamaru spoke up at this, smiling. "They were all really interesting that's why. Most books I've read are all..I don't know.. boring. They don't' explain things well.. But those books." Here she gestured to the pile that had her name on it. "They're interesting and easy to understand." He nodded at this and glanced at Naruto with a smile.

"You may keep that book if you wish, but for now you two had best come along, it's almost dinner time." He turned and slowly walked out of the room, the two following after a brief pause with Naruto having the Uzumaki Lore book tucked under her arm.

As they walked Naruto ran the books she read through her head, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted out of her mind. She had always felt as if she was craving something, something just out of her reach and she had finally realized what it was: knowledge.

The villagers in Konoha had always banned her from the library, forcing her to read nothing but scrapped or ruined books she found laying in the street. Even her Academy book had been quite out of date and torn apart until Iruka had found out and given her a new one. The books she read in the library, however, had removed the dust that clouded her mind, allowing her to take in more information then she thought possible.

There were books about how chakra was made, a story about a boy and his dragon, information on how to control and create elemental chakra, another about the history of the Senju, and lastly a story about her own family. She glanced towards Konohamaru as she thought about this book, thinking it was odd that the girl seemed to take as much interest in it as she did, despite not being an Uzumaki herself.

Shrugging it off for later she smiled at the sight of all of the Demi-Goddesses sitting around the table, talking and joking as they waited for food. Taking her spot beside Ayumi,and re-opening her book as she waited for the food to appear. As she fell into the words inside she hardly noticed the food appearing, but she did notice the loud _clang_ above her head, making her drop the book with a silent scream as she clenched her ears tightly.

She pouted looking up towards Kasumi who was looking down at her with slight worry in her eyes, having slammed her pot with the ladle just above the girl's head. "Sorry Naruto-Chan.. Are you alright?" She said sweetly, rubbing the girl's head.

"Y.. Yeah I'm fine." She blushed slightly, looking to the side. "It just hurt my ears is all.. I don't know why it hurt so much." She smiled and then blinked, seeing the food lined up in front of her. "Oh! Dinner! Thanks Kasumi, I haven't eaten today." The woman just smiled as the girl grabbed a bowl of ramen first, along with a few pieces of fruit as Ayumi glared towards her a little.

Smiling, she closed the book, placing it on her lap and eating slowly, savoring the taste of the fruit and ramen while laughing and joining in on a conversation with several of the Demi-Goddesses.

0-0-0-0 Uzumaki Lore Page One 0-0-0-0

My name is Uzumaki Fubuki, and this is my story. The Uzumaki clan was my creation, my child, and in this book I hope that my future generation will record themselves in this book as well, to allow all of our children to know what we have done, and who we are.

I am the sister of the leader of the Senju Clan, my foolish brother decided that we should separate and control the land from two separate fronts. This was fine with me, my people and I stayed in the Land of Waves and expanded our influence until we found a suitable area for our clan to live, and we called this land: The Land of Whirlpools.

We stayed here for a long time, not leaving or engaging in any battles that were not self-defense, using our clan Jutsu and natural defenses to our advantage. To all Uzumaki who come after this, I ask you to record any Jutsu we have in the Spiral Library located in our village. To Uzumaki who require information on where this is, place your blood on the next page in the center of the circle.

-the next page is missing, there are no signs of it having ever been in the book but the next page with Fubuki's text says page three, skipping page two entirely.-

Back to what I was saying, it has been some time but I believe that my brother's clan has began to move himself this way. There's signs that he's traveling with that Uchiha clan that he always battled. I am not scared of this, my brother is an understanding man and I am looking forward to a cup of tea and catching up with him.

As my last note, Uzumaki Child, if you are to ever become of age in the eyes of our clan, you must pass the "Trial". All information on this is in our Spiral Library in the T section. That is all I can share for now, and I do hope that my information does not become out dated when my children grow and build up on our clan.

0-0-0-0 The Next Day 0-0-0-0

Naruto stood outside the building now on the very bridge where she had engaged Yuzzuna. She had her hands pressed together and she was standing straight with her eyes closed, chakra spiraling around her. The water under and beside the bridge was beginning to glow as well as Naruto slowly preformed seals, and she threw her hand forward, the water spiraling into a large drill shape and slamming into the ground in front of her, leaving a decently sized hole but still Naruto frowned, crossing her arms. "That's still not a dragon."

Suddenly there was a loud _splash _sound and Naruto grinned looking tot he side where Konohamaru laid in the stream she had just taken water from. Yuzzuna was standing to the side, shaking his head. "That's not walking on water, Konohamaru." Konohamaru just stuck her tongue out, ringing out her kimono with a huff.

"I don't get it! Naurto-Nii did it without even trying and I can't even stay up for more then three seconds." Naruto smiled, jumping off the bridge and landing neatly in the water, her body staying afloat easily.

"I've had tree climbing though and it did take me a few tries." She grinned at the glare the girl gave her and stuck her tongue out as Konohamaru stood up, her eyes closed as she focused her chakra once more. "Just keep a steady stream of chakra going at your feet, and change it to more or less if you feel yourself sinking or using too much.." She smiled as the small girl walked into the water slowly, her feet skimming across the top.

After a few moments she slowly walked out, a dull blue surrounding her feet as she continued to walk until she was in the middle of the stream. A few moments later she grinned ear-to-ear, jumping up with a cheer and landing neatly on the water's surface and only sinking slightly.

Naruto grinned, patting the girl on the back who returned the grin as Yuzzuna clapped twice. "Good job, Konohamaru. Now we'll head back inside for the next part of your training." The two nodded, stepping out of the water and following him back inside, though they paused briefly as Naruto picked up her book again.

As they walked, Naruto smiled up towards Yuzzuna, who returned the smile though he tilted his head at the look of confusion she gave him. "Yes?" Naruto shrugged, looking back forward as they continued down the hallway.

"I was just kind of wondering why you're doing so much for us.. I mean.. Training us, feeding us.." Yuzzuna sighed slightly at this, opening up the door to the training room.

"I owe you two for my actions when you first arrived, I am slightly paranoid because there have been reports of relaxation areas being taken over by demons and so I acted without really considering the situation.. Also.." He sighed as he walked across the room, then he turned back around smiling at the two. "I still remember what it was like to be a normal mortal.. So I can relate to the feeling of being alone that you both seem to share."

The two glanced at each other briefly before grinning and Konohamaru closed the door behind her as they walked in. "Well thanks Yuzzuna. We really appreciate everything you're doing." Naruto grinned, putting her hands behind her head after placing her book on the ground to the side. "So what's on the agenda for today?"

Yuzzuna nodded, turning towards the weapon racks that were behind him and pulling free two Katana, which he handed to the girls with a smile. "We will be going over how to hold and use a sword.." Without another word, he pulled out his own blade and held it out. The two, catching the hint, hastily held the blade the same way, although Konohamaru wobbled slightly from the weight.

Smiling, Yuzzuna began to instruct them slowly on how to move, and how to strike. He also gave several examples of where to strike when fighting by lightly tapping Naruto in the correct positions, despite her attempts to guard.

0-0-0-0 Hours Later 0-0-0-0

_Sling. Clink. Clang._

"Hyaa!" Naruto shouted, her blade skidding off Yuzzuna's as he blocked and then he spun around, blocking Konohamaru's over-head strike then pushing her back away from him.

"You two learn quickly. That's good." He stated, blocking Naruto's attack from behind by placing the sword behind him and then gripping Konohamaru's wrist and spinning her around so she stumbled forward when she moved to attack him again. "But you will need to be faster than that."

Naruto glared jumping back while Konohamaru turned back towards him, frowning as she stared down towards the Katana in her hand. She suddenly flipped the blade so she was holding it with the blade pointed behind her causing Yuzzuna's eyes to widen as she ran towards him, jumping and swinging her blade towards his shoulder. He blocked it easily, however he was unprepared for her feet slamming into his shoulders, sending him stumbling back and she used his shoulder to spin around in the air, her blade falling towards his neck. She paused right before hitting him and then fell down to her butt, panting.

Yuzzuna touched his neck where a slight bit of blood escaped from the minor cut that was on his skin before laughing, ruffling the girl's hair. "That was very good Konohamaru. I didn't expect that at all." The girl grinned at his praise and he suddenly straightened himself up, spinning around and blocking another attack from Naruto. "Mm.. Trying to sneak up on me, huh? I barely noticed." He grinned at her and pushed her back.

She smirked, landing on her feet and spinning her blade around before running towards him quickly, holding the blade in one hand. She sliced and slashed at him, each being blocked easily by his own blade, however she suddenly grinned and tossed her blade to the other hand just as she swung with it, causing Yuzzuna to quickly change his stance to block it, however he was surprised when, just as it came into contact with his blade, it disappeared with a _poof_ and Naruto was holding the blade in her right hand once more, slicing down his shoulder.

He winced at this and jumped back, rubbing his shoulder which was already healing and, in fact, so was the Kimono he was wearing. "How did you do that, Naruto?" He asked curiously and she smiled, holding her fingers up.

"When I was practicing outside, I realized that this body is a lot easier to mold my chakra with, so I can do simple Jutsu without even doing the hand signs, though it costs some more chakra."He arched his eyebrows at this and nodded, beckoning for her to continue. She grinned, nodding and holding up a pebble that was on the ground. "I had this stuck in my sandal, I took it out while you were busy with Konohamaru and placed it in my right hand. When I swung at you, I tossed my sword to the other hand..then quickly swapped it with the pebble using a replacement Jutsu." He smirked, clapping slightly.

"You two are improving physically and mentally it seems. I believe we're done for the day with sword training, but if you two have any questions then please ask away." Naruto frowned, crossing her arms while Konohamaru just shook her head, placing the Katana back into the weapon rack.

"I was wondering how you did that glowing thing with your sword.. or rather, why your sword glows all the time?" Naruto questioned, staring towards the blade in his hands, which he slowly sheathed making it completely disappear from sight. "and how you're able to put it away and hide it from view.."

Yuzzuna frowned rubbing his chin, before shrugging. "Well, my sword's name is Yuumagure, and the fact that I know this is what makes it special." At the confused looks they gave him, he grinned. "Everyone out there has a weapon that is meant for them. When you find it, you call out it's name and release it's true form. In my case, Yuumagure is made of pure light, although it's not colored the same as most light I can still bend the light around it to hide it from view when it's not moving. If I call out it's name while it's released, I can release it's hidden ability. There is also a second stage to release in any weapon, but that takes a great build up of trust between you and your blade to happen."

Naruto nodded slowly, crossing her arms under her chest. "How do we find our weapons though? I mean.. There's so many out there. I don't see how we would know which is ours, or even what the name is." She tilted her head, confusion evident on her face.

Yuzzuna nodded, crossing his arms as well. "Yes, that's true, it is very difficult for someone who doesn't know how to see underneath the underneath." He grinned as he placed his fingers against his forehead, his eyes closing. "You must focus your energy, sense with your heart and not your mind to look for the color that defines you. When you have it.. You grasp it, and pull. However, you may do this later." He added the last part rather hastily as he saw them both beginning to close their eyes. "For now, go to the library and get some Jutsu scrolls you wish to learn so that we may practice those before and after dinner." The two grinned, hastily running off towards the Library and Yuzzuna sighed, shaking his head.

He slowly bent over, retrieving the sword Naruto had left on the ground and slowly placing it on the weapon's rack before following the two to the library, closing the door behind him. As he walked in he shook his head, seeing them quickly go through the scrolls that were lined up on the shelves and he coughed slightly to get their attention, which they gave him a moment after he made the noise.

"I will remind you that you should always read and see if the Jutsu can work with Jutsu you already know or wish to know.. simply because it isn't flashy or powerful doesn't mean it can't be useful." The two pouted slightly, grumbling as they put away a few high-ranked Jutsu scrolls and he chuckled softly watching them go much slower than before about choosing their scrolls.

He laughed and slowly walked over, tapping them on the shoulders. "Before you pick again, please take this and concentrate chakra into it." They tilted her head at him as he handed them both a small piece of paper.

"What does this do?" Konohamaru asked, and Yuzzuna just smiled and motioned for her to push chakra into it. With a sigh, she slowly pushed her chakra into it and jumped back as it became lit on fire and fell to the ground as a pile of ash. "Whoa what..!" She hastily looked towards Naruto who was staring at her paper, which was split cleanly in half but suddenly became damp and hung between her fingers.

Yuzzuna whistled as he bent down to brush up the ash on the ground, frowning as he jumped from the slight shock he received upon touching them. "Well from what I can tell.. Naruto has both wind and water affinity, while you, Konohamaru, have fire and lightning affinity. This means that it would be best to focus around those, as they are much easier to learn for you and will not cost nearly the same amount of chakra." He explained with a grin and they smiled at him, nodding.

"How did you know that though?" Naruto asked, already placing back two scrolls onto their rightful spots on the shelf. "I mean.. What was with the papers?"

Yuzzuna leaned against one of the shelves, watching them go through the scrolls again. "There's many trees which are grown and cared for using chakra rather then water and sunlight.. Those trees are turned into paper and react naturally to chakra, allowing people who put their chakra into it to see what type the chakra inside them is." The two nodded slowly, accepting the explanation and he smiled, watching them grab scrolls. "Four each." They pouted at him and sighed but continued to go about the shelves as Yuzzuna laughed, shaking his head.

0-0-0-0 Uzumaki Lore Page Six 0-0-0-0

I had a daughter. I named her Mito. She's extremely bright and learns quickly, although she seems to have developed this.._sense_ about the world that I cannot begin to explain. The best way I could explain it is that she seems to be able to sense negative emotions. When I am angry at her father, she sings to me. When someone has scraped their leg on the other side of the village, she says that she must help someone and goes straight to them with a first-aid kit.

I also noted that she has very few friends amongst the children, but many of them try to talk to her. It seems that she avoids them completely, to the point where I have seen her actually replace herself with a log to get away from them. I asked her about this, and she stated that they always felt.. cold. I didn't press her on the matter, though.

I believe that she may be awakening the long since dimmed bloodline of the Uzumaki, the ability to sense negative emotions.. However, that is just the first part of the bloodline, though she may be the first to unlock it so early and, without a doubt, the first to unlock it without showing any signs on the outside.

I will keep an eye on her, but for right now, I must sleep. My husband will be back from the battlefield soon. He had gone to fight with my brother, against the dreaded Booma Clan. I hear that my husband's brother, Hizani Hyuuga, and the rest of the Hyuuga clan joined on the Senju's side. I cannot help but wonder why, they never seemed to agree on anything, especially with my husband only being half-Hyuuga. Ah, I am still writing. Sleep now, Fubuki.

0-0-0-0 The Next Day 0-0-0-0

Naruto, Yuzzuna, and Konohamaru all sat outside on the bridge, cross legged with the two females facing the building and Yuzzuna on the opposite side, facing the field behind them. Between the three were six scrolls, each having a different Jutsu written inside of them.

Yuzzuna slowly leaned forward, grabbing the scrolls at random and reading their contents slowly.

_Netsushi – By focusing chakra to their eyes, the user's sight is changed so that they may see the temperatures of objects as color. Hot objects are red, cold are blue. This Jutsu is used to find hidden opponents, however it can cause loss of depth perception and details of the environment. (Seals are listed on the back)_

_Fuuton: Sairanto Suteppu (Silent Step) – The user concentrates wind to their feet, with this, every time they step a slight amount of chakra is let out into the air, causing it to absorb sound. However, unless the chakra is expanded while stepping on a twig or something else that causes noise, the noise will not be muffled despite the footstep itself not being heard._

_Fuuton: Raiku Kaze (Wind Step) – The user sends a burst of Fuuton chakra to their feet, which explodes outwards from the sole, giving the user an extra push. Can be used in mid-air and requires no seals._

_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Jutsu)– The user preforms the seal required and concentrates their chakra into another form, much like a normal Bunshin, however the user surrounds the Bunshin in a layer of chakra to cause it to become solid, however the chakra will disperse after one hit. This may also be used with weapons, such as shuriken or kunai._

_Katon: Kasai no Ame (Rain of Fire) – The user preforms the seals ( Located on the back ) and focuses chakra into their hands. With careful control, the user forms a balls of fire around both hands, upon completion the user throws them into the air, causing the orbs to collide and split into many smaller fireballs which fall down onto the field as commanded by the user._

_Kesu – By focusing Fire Element chakra, the user is able to dissipate flames by concentrating chakra around it and forcing it to be extinguished. Masters of this Jutsu may put out a flame with a wave of their hand, however if someone else is using chakra on the flames, or to create them, it becomes much more difficult to dissipate them._

_Katon: Kasumi Enbu no Jutsu (Mist waltz Technique) – The user blows out a great amount of burnable gas by focusing Fire Element chakra in their gut, as with most Katon Jutsu. Once the gas comes in contact with flames or sparks, the gas ignites and continues to spread as the user pumps out more gas._

_Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hidden Mist Technique) – A technique that covers the area surrounding the user completely in mist, the size is based on how much chakra is pumped into the technique and provides little to no visibility to either the user or opponent._

Yuzzuna slowly placed the scrolls back, smiling towards them. "Good Jutsu choices and I can see how they work nicely together.. I am surprised you didn't get any Raiton Jutsu, Konohamaru, only Katon." The girl in question crossed her arms, shrugging.

"I want to master fire first, lightning seems too hard." Yuzzuna laughed at this, along with Naruto. Yuzzuna then looked at the blonde who tilted her head back at him as he nodded.

"You also had good choices, although I am a bit skeptical about Raiku Kaze I can see how it could be used with larger Jutsu and Kirigakure no Jutsu." She nodded at this, and the man slowly stood up, patting down his Kimono. "Very well. We will train for a few hours before heading inside to resume the sword-training. First off.." He tossed both Netsushi scroll and the Sairanto Suteppu scroll to Naruto, then the Kesu and Kage Bunshin scrolls to Konohamaru. "We will start with these."

He smiled walking out into the field, preforming seals briefly before blowing a steady stream of fire onto the ground, which lit the grass ablaze in front of him, causing two girls behind him to jump in surprise at the sudden action. He grinned, nodding his head towards Konohamaru. "Practice Kesu, when you can successfully put out the fire, practice Kage Bunshin until you can make one clone." Konohamaru nodded, slowly opening the Kesu scroll and reading the contents inside quickly.

He turned his head towards Naruto who stared at him with undivided attention. He smiled at this, nodding towards her. "While Konohamaru practices Kesu, I want you to attempt to use Netsushi and stare at the flames until it is completely red. When the flames die out, you will tell us if there is any left.. Also, while doing this attempt to sneak up behind me without my notice using your Sairanto Suteppu." Naruto frowned before slowly nodding, opening the scrolls and reading over them slowly.

Moments later Konohamaru was staring intently at the flames, her body lit with a dark red chakra as she focused on putting out the flames. Meanwhile, Naruto was staring at the flames, her normally blue eyes being a dull purple with a blue iris. Yuzzuna stood silently to the side, watching as the flame slowly became lower and lower and he poked Naruto on the head as she attempted to move behind him, the slight rustling of the grass having given her away.

She pouted at this but stepped back into his vision, focusing once more and as the flames disappeared she nodded, staring towards the grass. "It's gone. I can't see any more red." Yuzzuna nodded and Konohamaru sighed in relief, wiping sweat from her brow.

"This is harder than I thought." She stated, and Yuzzuna laughed with a nod.

"It will be worth it though, no? Come, make a clone." Konohamaru nodded, focusing her chakra with the familiar cross-seal. Yuzzuna watched carefully while playfully swatting Naruto's hand as she attempted to touch his shoulder from behind. "Too obvious again. You're not putting enough chakra, think of it as walking on water but with wind chakra. Force your chakra to be wind." Naruto frowned but nodded, her eyes closing as she focused her chakra to change into the wind element.

Yuzzuna glanced at Konohamaru, smiling as a clone was formed beside her, although it was slightly pale it still seemed very solid as Konohamaru told it to punch her hand, which it did without phasing through. Both of the Konohamaru's cheered, throwing their fists up into the air. Yuzzuna cleared his throat smiling. "Now I want you, Konohamaru, to try and make clones whenever you can. I also want you to try and master the Jutsu you already know to where you don't need to use seals like Naruto." The girl nodded slowly, dispelling her clone with a flick of her wrist.

The man then began to turn towards Naruto only to jump back in shock at the sight of her finger right in his face. She laughed, soon joined by Konohamaru. "y.. You should have seen the look on your face!" She giggled out, smiling as Yuzzuna chuckled softly.

"Indeed.. I'll just tell Kasumi no ramen tonight." At this she let out a cry of "Noooo!" and he laughed, beginning to walk towards the building. "Kidding kidding.. Though, Naruto, I want you to constantly use those two Jutsu until you go to sleep. The sooner you master them the sooner we can go onto the next ones." Naruto nodded, smiling as she made a shadow clone which gathered up the scrolls.

Seeing this, Konohamaru did the same, grabbing her own scrolls with the clone and they quickly followed Yuzzuna back inside towards the training area to resume their sword training.

0-0-0-0 Uzumaki Lore Page 10 0-0-0-0

Hello, I am Uzumaki Mito. I know I was mentioned awhile back by my mother, Fubuki, but I wanted to say that she left out a few key points for her history book. One, she had a sister as well. Her name was Houka. She is a very kind woman, just misunderstood, and she is the one who organized our Spiral Library in the village. My mother and my aunt have had several disagreements in the past when it came to how to run the clan, and that is probably why she was not mentioned. (Small side note: I don't know why they don't get along, they're so alike!)

She is also the only Uzumaki who has the same thing I have: The ability to sense negative emotions. She claims that it isn't nearly as strong as mine, though... Oh! I forgot this was supposed to be a Uzumaki history, not my personal book.

Ahem, sorry. Anyways, right now the Senju, Uzumaki, Hyuuga, and Uchiha are all working together to unite the country, although the Uzumaki clan, due to my Mother, will be staying in the Land of Whirlpools. It's probably because we have much of our sealing techniques hidden here, not to mention how great the natural defenses are. It'd be nearly impossible to get in without help from the inside.

Anyways, my Mother has given me this book since she states that I will be the next clan leader. I don't know why, but she's very insistent on it.. It's difficult to refuse her, not that I don't want it.. but my father is wanting me on the battlefield since I have studied a vast amount of defensive and offensive seals to assist them.

I only hope Hashirama is there, if my mother lets me go.

0-0-0-0 Hours Later 0-0-0-0

Yuzzuna laughed as Naruto spun a ramen bowl on top of a chopstick at dinner, earning praise from the other females in the room as she was also balancing two books on her head while walking around, grinning ear to ear with her purple eyes gleaming and her footsteps being completely silent.

The two Konohamaru's were walking around and poking people on the shoulder, however as soon as they were grabbed they would _poof_ into either another one of the Demi-Goddesses (Usually Yuna who glared at Konohamaru with a grin on her face) or into a large animal. When the animal was released out of shock, it would poof back into Konohamaru who would laugh and was soon joined by the one who grabbed her.

Yuzzuna smiled, shaking his head as he slowly cleared his throat. "Naruto, Konohamaru, return to your seats." The two pouted but did so, with Naruto returning the books to the Demi-Goddesses who allowed her to borrow them for her performance and placing the bowl back onto the table, while the Konohamaru's just sat beside each other at her usual seat.

Yuzzuna cleared his throat, placing his hands under his chin as he smiled at them. "You have been here or some time, and think I speak for everyone when I say that we enjoy your company here." There were several nods and "Yeah!"'s at this, to which the two(or three?) girls blushed and scratched their cheeks, grins on their faces. "However, I know as well as you that you cannot stay here. Not just because you are mortals, but rather because you do have people you need to return to, no?" They frowned and nodded at this, though it was Naruto who spoke up first.

"I still have to become Hokage." She announced with a smile, shaking her head slightly. "My Nindo, my ninja way, is to not go back on my word. I swore I would become Hokage, and I will." Yuzzuna nodded at this, glancing at Konohamaru who grinned, nodding towards Naruto.

"Yeah! And I'm gonna be there for Naruto-Onee and be Hokage right after she retires!" She announced, nodding twice while crossing her arms, though she pouted as Yuna tugged on her cheeks, grinning.

"So supportive of your big sister." Konohamaru stuck her tongue out at the girl who just laughed, grabbing and pulling on it, causing the Konohamaru to disappear in a poof of smoke. "Oh! I got the fake one!" She laughed, joined by several others though they quickly fell quiet as Yuzzuna clapped his hands together.

"Back to what I was saying." Yuna stuck her tongue out at him as he grinned at her, then turned his gaze back towards Naruto. "I have decided that you two will be leaving in two days." Their eyes widened at this, though there were several "Nooo!" shouts coming from the Demi-Goddesses, though they quickly fell silent as Yuzzuna clapped his hands again. "As I was saying.. You will be leaving in two days, however.. You are always welcome to return."

He smiled at their confused gazes as he slowly held up two bracelets, and there were several murmurs in the background as he nodded towards Naruto, grabbing her hand and sliding the thin purple metal around her wrist, doing the same to Konohamaru's. They looked down at the bracelet, though they both winced slightly as it seemed to clamp down onto their skin, though the pressure became painless rather quickly.

"What are these?" Konohamaru asked, poking the metal and Yuzzuna smiled at her.

"They are "Messenger" bands, usually used to give the caretaker of a relaxation area, or a God, a message. These in particular are bound to me and will allow me to receive any messages you wish to send, thus allowing me to know when you wish to return here. Oh.." He paused briefly, crossing his arms. "I will tell you, however, that the way you originally came up here is completely blocked off. I saw to that while you slept and fixed the gap you two went through to get up here."

The two giggled at this before looking down at their bracelets, smiles on their faces. Naruto slowly looked up as Ayumi patted her shoulder, staring into Naruto's purple eyes that were brimming with tears. "You'll always have a home here, Naruto." Naruto nodded, grinning and she slowly looked at her lap, where the Uzumaki Lore book laid beside her feet.

Suddenly she looked up sharply towards Konohamaru, then back towards Yuzzuna. "I have decided on my name, Yuzzuna." He arched his eyebrows at this and she smiled, nodding towards Konohamaru who stuck her tongue out, nodding.

"I did too." She stated, her arms remaining crossed under her chest. Yuzzuna nodded towards them and smiled.

"Well? Don't keep us waiting." The two looked at each other before nodding and it was Naruto who spoke first.

"Fubuki Uzumaki."

"Houka Uzumaki." Konohamaru stated, and Yuzzuna glanced between the two before chuckling softly.

"I can see you worked hard on thinking of what to pick, and no doubt they are names from that book I gave you, Naru-" He paused and then closed his eyes, smiling still. "Fubuki." He clapped his hands once, staring towards the Demi-Goddesses in the room. "Now, I think reintroducing yourselves to everyone would be a good start to your new names."

"Fubuki" nodded, along with "Houka" and both grinned at each other before standing up beside Yuzzuna so that they could see everyone. "Everyone.. I am Fubuki Uzumaki." Fubuki started, smiling widely while Houka rubbed her nose, smiling.

"And I am Houka Uzumaki. We are pleased to meet you!"

"And we are glad to be here with you!" Fubuki finished, both of them bowing as the women in the room giggled, chattering excitedly towards the two who laughed and spoke back, and Fubuki couldn't help but smile as she sat back down, staring down towards all the women who were seated in the room.

She truly felt accepted here, and she could tell that her "sister" felt the same. It was different that being treated as something, rather then someone. She was treated as a demon, and Konoha- Houka was treated as an idol, but here they were treated as real people.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts she smiled, lifting up her cup which was full of apple-juice. She took a sip of it smiling, though she let her mind wander again towards the large gates of Konoha and the sweet sound of birdsong in the forest that was beside her home and she couldn't help but smile..

Despite how she was treated here, she couldn't wait to get back home.

0-0-0-0 Chapter 2 End 0-0-0-0

whew, long chapter because I wanted to try and get this entire arc completely over with, but then I looked at the 26 page mark and the nearly 16000 words listed on this page and was like "Whoa! Too much! My poor readers will get confused!" Aha..anyways, I hope you enjoyed it! Review 3!


	3. Pathway to the Godless

Yes, before anyone comments more, I realize that Mito and Naruto (Canon) are able to sense negative emotions due to Kyuubi. However, folks, this is AU. That means Alternate Universe. In this universe, it's an Uzumaki ability, apart of their bloodline no less. Whats the rest of their bloodline? Who knows? I know. But I'm not telling you! 3

(I'm sorry for my lack of writing, I simply had writers block, games to play, and things to do! Hopefully writing this will get me back on track, but for now, enjoy chapter three of Where Hope fears to tread.)

0-0-0-0 The Next Day 0-0-0-0

Fubuki and Houka sat across from each other in the training hall with Yuzzuna sitting to the side, all three of them being cross legged with their eyes shut and chakra flowing around them. "Concentrate on you.. Sense with your heart for the weapon that is right for you. The weapon that defines you, and is completely and utterly yours." The two females nodded as Yuzzuna spoke, his voice barely a whisper.

Fubuki could feel something tugging at her mind as she concentrated, her chakra whipping around her wildly as she gritted her teeth together, annoyance starting to creep into her mind as the three of them had been sitting here for several hours now, right after practicing their the Jutsu scrolls again. The training went well, as both Fubuki and Houka could now preform all of the Jutsu, although they were far from mastering any of them except for the ones they could practice regularly.

Fubuki fidgeted left and right and yelped as she suddenly felt a sharp pain on her head, and she glared at Yuzzuna who was staring at her with one eye open, his hand holding his sheathed sword, though she could only tell that due to the way his hand was holding itself and she could feel it resting on her head.

"What was that for.." She muttered out, rubbing her sore head as Yuzzuna sighed, slowly raising his blade up again, causing the blonde to flinch but blink in surprise as he slapped it down onto the fidgeting Houka.

"OW!" She yelled out, holding her head with a pout on her face. "What was that for!"

Yuzzuna shook his head, frowning. "You two are getting too agitated. You have to focus and remain calm, picturing yourself wielding the weapon that defines you. Also.." Here he patted Houka on the head with his invisible blade, which was still sheathed. "You have to make sure you're using raw chakra, not elemental chakra. I could sense that you were using fire element for awhile. Now try again." He smiled at their pouts but frowned as Fubuki shook her head.

"I don't think this is working though Yuzzuna.. I haven't ever learned anything by thinking about it, I just...do it." Yuzzuna frowned, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he slowly stood up, walking over to the weapon rack and staring down into it.

"I'll see if I can find anything for you two to really get a good look on what you are describing, possibly a book or an actual weapon, whatever helps you picture it, it doesn't seem that we have anything other than broad swords and Katana in here. However.." He paused, rubbing his chin again as he looked toward them. "As you said, you may simply find your weapon when you are ready, until then you are free to use the weapons you already have."

They nodded as he walked out of the room, intent on finding a book about blades in the library to see if seeing it would help.

"Geez!" Fubuki pouted, her eyes glowing purple once more as she turned on her Netsushi. Houka smiled, standing up and putting her hands on her hips as she stared down towards the blonde, who arched her eyebrows slightly.

"How about a little spar while we wait, Fubuki-Onee?" She said with a grin, her brown hair swishing side to side as she shook her head, a smug look on her face. "Unless you think you can't handle this." She patted her chest at this, to which Fubuki laughed, standing up.

"You're on, Houka-Nee.." She smiled, patting her own chest. "Although I think it'll be rather one sided." She grinned and cracked her knuckles and Houka smirked, mirroring the action.

"You'll eat those words when I beat you down!" She announced, charging at her older sister. Fubuki smiled, dodging the attacks with ease, however as she moved to attack she found that Houka was dodging her blows just as easily.

Houka grinned suddenly jumping up, catching Fubuki off guard as the small girl's feet slammed into her stomach, causing her to gasp and stumble back. However, the girl wasn't done as she charged forward, gripping the front of Fubuki's Kimono and slamming her small head into her opponent's. However, she soon regretted the decision as she found herself falling off with stars in her eyes, the blonde's head being much thicker than she realized.

Said blonde also stumbled back, holding her forehead and then she grinned, charging towards the recovering girl who looked at Fubuki in surprise, quickly rolling to the side to dodge the kick aiming for her gut. Thinking quickly, the brown-haired girl slid her own feet under Fubuki's, however she was unprepared for Fubuki's feet to twist and catch her legs between her own.

Fubuki grinned, placing her hands on her hips as she stared down at her fallen 'sister', and the girl glared up at her, struggling to pull her feet free of the tight grip. However, a moment later she paused, a frown on her face as she stared up towards Fubuki, who tilted her head in confusion. "Eh? What's wrong Konoh- Erk. Houka!" She laughed at her own mistake, though she stopped as she noticed Houka staring at her in confusion. "What?"

Houka tilted her head side to side, crossing her arms under her chest. "I dunno.. you just look weird." She flinched back, seeing the anger tick mark appear on Fubuki's forehead, her left eye twitching slightly.

"Oh? Is that so? Well excuse me, Princess." She grinned, leaning down, tugging on the girl's cheeks, causing her to let out a small yell of protest. Grinning, Fubuki unbound the girl's leg and helped her to her feet, only to recoil slightly as the girl gave her a curious stare, her nose scrunching up as she stared up towards the blonde girl, and without warning she sent her fist flying forward, catching the taller girl in the gut. Fubuki gasped, stumbling back as Houka giggled, a grin on her face.

"Got you!" She stated, sticking her tongue out towards the glaring blonde.

"Oh you're so dead!" Fubuki snapped out, charging towards the smaller girl, who let out a "eep!" and began to quickly back-pedal away from the angry blonde. Fubuki jumped forward off her feet, pouncing the brown-haired to the ground. She was surprised, however, when the her "prey" poofed into smoke, leaving her on her hands and knees on the wooden floor. Reacting on nothing but her instincts, Fubuki quickly jumped to the left, watching as Houka's foot landed where she had been seconds before.

Houka smirked and didn't give Fubuki a chance to get up as she rushed towards the older girl, sending a foot towards the blonde's face. She was already bringing her fist down as well, thinking that the girl would dodge the blow, and found herself completely off balance as Fubuki gripped the incoming foot with one hand and pushed herself upwards, flipping and pulling Houka with her. Fubuki landed neatly on her feet while letting go of Houka's foot, smirking as the girl flew across the room towards the open door.

The girl rolled across the ground, landing in the grass as she went through another door that caused her to go outside. Houka groaned, rubbing her head as Fubuki shot out of the door after her, and Houka's eyes widened as she saw Fubuki was already holding one foot back, indicating she was about to kick the small girl's head in. Thinking quickly, Houka pushed herself off of the ground with her feet, landing on her hands soon after and then pushing back again. She repeated the process several times, managing to dodge the blows that Fubuki was halfheartedly trying to swing at her until they were both at the river they had spent so much time training at and Houka stopped, her feet just touching the edge of the river.

Fubuki smirked at her little sister, crossing her arms under her chest. "Give up, Sis?" She laughed at the small glare the girl sent her, already knowing the answer to the question. "Alright then! Here we go!" She charged forward again, her fist coming into contact with Houka's left arm, sending the girl slightly skidding back. This is all she needed however as this made the younger girl unbalanced from her left foot suddenly being in the water and she took this chance to use her right foot to send the girl flying over the small water source.

Houka flipped in the air as she flew, landing on her feet and almost instantly falling to one knee as she held her stomach where the blonde had kicked her. That _hurt_. "You're fighting dirty Fubuki-Onee! So let's see what you think about this, I learned it from my grandpa!" Fubuki's eyes widened as the small girl flew through a set of seals, the most alarming one being the Tiger seal.

Fubuki was already on the move as the small girl finished her seals, chakra swirling around her as she focused. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" She called out, fire leaking from her lips as she spoke and then she tipped her head back, blowing out a large orb of fire towards her sister. It wasn't very large, about twice the size of Houka herself, but even then Houka was surprised when the orb was suddenly hit with a large wave of water, causing the orb to lose much of it's bulk and she was even more surprised when Fubuki put her hands on the orb, using the Kesu that Houka had been learning to get rid of the rest.

Fubuki smirked, watching the small girl take in heavy breaths from using so much chakra. "Nice try, Houka-_Chaaaan_." Teasing the poor girl by stretching out the name, Fubuki couldn't help but giggle at the scowl that came onto Houka's face.

"How did you move the water like that! You didn't get any water Jutsu!" She giggled at the girl's words, shrugging her shoulders. Seeing this, the brown-haired girl cracked her knuckles. "Fine! I'll just beat it out of you!" She charged forward, her movements slightly sluggish compared to before due to the damage she took before. Fubuki smiled, easily dodging the girl's attacks as she ran through a set of seals. "Kirigakure no Jutsu." She called out, hastily backing up a few steps and landing silently on the water, smiling as mist began to fill the area.

She looked around, noticing that some places didn't have the same thickness as others in the mist and she frowned. Since she hadn't practiced the Jutsu before, she could easily feel and see the difference between hers and the one that Zabuza had used. His had been thick, but controlled into an area. She could feel that her mist probably went all the way to the house and possibly to the pond that they had landed in when they first came here. It was also very thin in some places, especially near the edges.

However, being in the center, that didn't effect her much as she looked around, her Netsushi glowing as she looked around. She smirked noticing a familiar shape of heat exactly where she had left it. She began to walk towards it but paused, a frown on her face. Why would Houka stay exactly where she was before? Not to mention, she didn't look very wary judging by the body language that she could see through her heat-seeing eyes.

She scanned around the area, and slowly looked down towards the water that she was standing on after not seeing any other shape around. Her eyes widened as she made out a heat source swimming right at her like a small torpedo and she hastily jumped off the water, flashing through her most used seal as she moved through the air. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" She called out, three images of herself appearing nearby and she smirked at that. She had always had trouble making a small amount of the clones, but it seems with her training she had been going through her control had sky rocketed.

Back to the present, she watched as the two Houka heat-sources met up together, exchanging words that Fubuki couldn't make out but she didn't want to give them too long to talk it out anyways. Smiling she moved herself into the mist, using her Silent Step to make her way to an oblivious Houka, while her clones began to surround the two girl's as well.

One clone stepped into the water, making a slight splash as it had difficulty switching chakra off of the Silent Step into water walking as the wind chakra pushed the water around. Fubuki frowned as she felt shuriken pelt her clone, and felt the information rush back to her. She smiled and made a small gesture, sending one of her clones running right at the heat-sources. There was a 'thwap' as the clone whacked one of the Houka's on the head, and a moment later there were two poof sounds as both clones disappeared.

Fubuki sent her next clone from behind the girl, surprising the small brunette with a kick on her side, however she recovered quickly, flipping onto her hands and back onto her feet as she sent a Kunai flying straight towards the clone that had hit her, embedding the steel in the clone's arm and causing it to poof out of existence.

Houka wasn't prepared for a Kunai to fly towards her head as well, and she hastily pulled out her own to block the blow. The mist began to clear as Fubuki's chakra began to wear out and the Kunai Houka blocked pushed against her own, being held by Fubuki's hand. As the mist cleared, their eyes met and they jumped apart, smirking and waiting for it to clear, and Fubuki turned off her Netsushi, making her eyes their normal electric blue.

A few moments later they charged forward again, Kunai against Kunai. They exchanged a few blows, before backing up to recover, both panting slightly with sweat glistening on their foreheads. Houka twirled her Kunai around, having the handle pointing towards Fubuki now and Fubuki, in turn, pulled out another Kunai, holding one in each hand now. They charged forward again, Houka blocking Fubuki's left Kunai with her own and dodging the swipe from the other, causing them to break free of each other briefly before Houka closed the distance again, slicing towards Fubuki's stomach.

Fubuki jumped back before running towards the girl at an arc, forcing Houka to face her with her back to the water once more, though there was much more distance between her and it then last time. Fubuki charged forward, closing the distance between the two again and sent her Kunai straight towards the girl's shoulder, only to be side-stepped and swiped at with Houka's own Kunai.

The blonde blocked the blow with her free Kunai and sent the other one to swipe at her waist, causing the girl to jump back, lest she get a new wound. Fubuki frowned, disliking the shortness of her reach as she charged forward again, wishing she could have a new weapon. Houka's thoughts were much the same as she blocked blow after blow with her Kunai, wishing that her blade had a broader side so she could block both Kunai but still small to where it wouldn't' be a hassle.

The two continued to exchange blows, unknowing of each others thoughts, however they both stopped at the same time, their eyes wide as their Kunai began to glow, covering even their hands in the strange white light. "W.. What the..?" Houka gasped out, though Fubuki remained silent as the glow continued. A few moments later it receded, the Kunai having disappeared in the odd light, but in their place were weapons that the two felt that they should have always been using.

In Fubuki's hands was two long curved swords, the one on the left ranging to about 32 inches long, with 16 inch width, the other blade being around 29 inches long with the same width. Both had a mirroring handle, having a smooth handle, having no hand-guard and unlike other Sabers that she had seen before in weapon shops, the bottom of the handles had loops on the bottom, with two ribbons that fell down to her feet. Both ribbons mirrored the length of the respective blades that they were connected to. The handle of the saber in her left hand had a black color to it, with a golden ribbon, and the other was the opposite, having a golden handle with a black ribbon. Both blades had a silver color.

Houka was studying her own weapon, holding it in the same back-wards way that she had been holding the Kunai. It looked to be a Gladius, as Iruka briefly gone over weapon types in the Academy along with Ebisu in her old private training sessions allowed to her to recognize it, and it seemed to be a Pompeii type, having parallel cutting edge and a triangle tip at it's 50 cm length, with a 5 cm width. The handle had small places to hold her fingers and seemed to be made of a tan-shaded metal, giving it the appearance of wood. The bottom of the hilt had a small orb, made of the same metal that the rest of the handle was made of.

The two looked up at each other, shock evident on their faces but slowly they both began to grin, which turned into smiles, and soon both were laughing loudly, but stopped at the sound of heavy clapping coming from the direction of the house. They blushed softly at the sight of Yuzzuna clapping at them, along with almost every other Demi-God that they had met, including Kasumi, Yuna, and Ayumi.

Yuzzuna stepped forward with a smirk, crossing his arms as he stared at them. "Why didn't I see this coming, hm? You two.." They flinched, thinking they were about to be scolded for the slight destruction of the ground around them, mostly due to Houka's Fire Jutsu. "figured out something like this by bashing each others heads in.." He laughed softly as the girl's let out a sigh of relief. "Go get yourselves washed up and I'll have Ayumi do a few check ups to make sure you two didn't hurt anything too badly. Then head to dinner." With that, he turned on his heel and walked towards the house.

The two nodded, eager for some food now that the adrenaline that had fueled their systems during the fight had wore off, allowing them to feel how hungry they are. As they walked back towards the house, a red-haired girl stepped in front of them, a small smile on her face. "Hello there, I'm.."

"Tiara-Chan!" Houka supplied, smiling at the girl that she had teased a bit, and had been teased by, during dinner. The girl smiled at being remembered and nodded at the two.

"That's right. It's nice to really talk to you guys, but I was going if you two would like me to make sheaths for your new weapons." The two exchanged surprised looks, then looked down towards their sharp blades. Nodding at Tiara, they handed the swords over to the girl, causing her to smile brightly. "Great! I'll have these done by the time you leave tomorrow!" She announced, gathering the blades in her arms and running off to her workshop, completely missing the sad look that crossed their faces at her words.

Ayumi, however, did notice and gripped their shoulders gently, pulling them into a half-hug. "Come on. Let's get you girls washed up." She cooed out, smiling and pulling them along towards the bathroom. Within moments, all three were stripped down into nothing but their birthday suits and giggling as Ayumi washed them, tickling their skin with her soft fingers as she ran them through the girl's hair, cleaning out the bits of dirt and grime that had gotten into the strands.

As she washed them, Ayumi noticed that despite the numerous wounds that she had saw them inflict on each other, such as the blow to Houka's gut that had crippled her slightly at first, were gone. Their skin was completely flawless of any bruise or cut, and even their chakra was full and stable again. She didn't mention this to them, however, as she dried their hair with a small blast of heat from her finger tips.

"Cool! How did you do that!" Houka questioned, smiling wide and letting Ayumi repeat the process onto her hair as well. Ayumi giggled at the girl's expression and eagerness, and she ran her fingers through the brown locks, smoothing it with her fingers.

"It's a little thing we Demi-Goddesses can do, that's all.. I'm sure there's a Jutsu out there somewhere that does the same thing though." Houka nodded, a slight pout on her features from finding out she couldn't learn it. Fubuki, however, started to get up and get dressed in a loose Kimono, much like the ones that all the Demi-Goddesses wore, and Houka glanced up towards her, smiling. Her smile dropped however as Fubuki simply walked towards the door, heading for the dining room.

Houka looked up towards Ayumi, a small pout on her childish features. "Ne.. Ayumi-Chan, why did Fubuki-Onee look like that? Do you think something is wrong?" Ayumi paused, having been leaning down to retrieve her own Kimono as she looked back at the girl, a frown on her features.

"I don't really know Houka-Chan, that's something only Fubuki would know I imagine, however, that she's sad that she's leaving tomorrow.. I know I am, at least." She smiled softly as the girl nodded, sharing the somber look in her eyes that Ayumi had gotten upon mentioning their departure.

"But it's okay." Houka said suddenly, smiling as she got up and wrapped her small arms around the older girl's waist, causing the Demi-Goddess to smile softly. "We'll be back to visit in no time! And when Fubuki-Onee is Hokage then we'll invite you to a big party!" She nodded, hastily starting to put her own Kimono on, which was brown one with a red sash and red leaves painted across it from top to bottom.

Ayumi laughed softly, nodding. "Yes, that sounds wonderful dear. Come on, let's head to dinner." Houka pumped her fist up into the air, smiling widely.

"Yosh!"

0-0-0-0 Uzumaki Lore Page 11 0-0-0-0

I was sent to the front lines, despite my mother's "better" judgment, nearly a week after I wrote the last page in this book. I could sense how angry she was when Father took me in his carriage and, with Hashirama, we traveled to the front lines. It was nice to really talk to my old friend again, even if he was always making little jibes at my hair style. Honestly, it was the most comfortable hair style I could manage with this unruly hair of mine!

Anyways, we'll reach the battlefield in roughly three days, it seems that the Hyuuga weren't able to hold back against the vast destruction that the Haretsu clan could make with their clay bombs, which was no surprise at all due to how the Hyuuga prefer to fight. In fact, my father tells me even the Uchiha had agreed that retreating was the best idea for the Hyuuga, and they never agree on anything!

I hope that Mother doesn't mind me taking this book to record the war... I feel that it will truly mark the Uzumaki clan's history, and it would be a shame if I didn't record it in the Lore book!

Mmm.. Hopefully I can hold myself together, the last time I went to a camp with my father I nearly fainted from all the negative emotions around me.. If only I knew how to control this power of mine.

Ah well, maybe I could just seal it..

0-0-0-0 Three Hours Later 0-0-0-0

Fubuki slowly sat up from her futon, looking over to the completely knocked out Houka beside her. She let a smile grace her features as she got up, moving to the door silently and walking out of the room. It wasn't too long before she found herself outside at the bridge, and soon after that she was at the pond that she had fell in when she first came to this land.

She slowly slid herself to her knees, staring down into the reflection of the water. Her golden hair was falling down her shoulders, and the small amount of light that was produced by the moon shining through the mist above allowed her to see how she truly looked. She took her fingers slightly across the whisker marks on her cheek, shivering slightly at the tickling feeling she got from it. She ran her hands over the mounds of her chest, causing the orbs to bounce slightly as she pushed them up and then let go, and then she felt herself wrap her arms gently around herself the best she could, her eyes unfocused as she began to shake.

"**What.. are you doing, Kit." **A voice boomed out, pulling her free of the lapse she had seemed to have unknowingly fallen into. She looked down towards the water, and shivered at the sight of herself with two bright red eyes.

"I don't know." She responded softly, staring down towards the fox-Fubuki with confusion on her face. "I don't know what I'm doing.. I don't want to leave, but I don't want to stay.. I just.." She paused, biting her lip. "I don't even recognize myself Kyuubi.. I'm not Naruto anymore." She went quiet, and for a few moments all was silent until she heard a scoff from the fox below, even though the actual sound came from far within her mind.

"**Is that all you woke me up for? Honestly.." **The fox-Fubuki shook her head, grinning wide and showing off the large fangs to her blue-eyed opposite. **"We've had this discussion already little Kit. You are what you are, and it's time you embraced that. Naruto, for all intent and purposes, is gone."** Fubuki flinched at that and the fox-Fubuki growled, her claws-like hands lashing out against the water, which actually moved much to Fubuki's shock. **"I'm not going to help some little rat like you if all you're going to do is wallow in this depressing way of thinking. You wanted to be someone else, you wanted to be free of the hateful glares they sent your way and now you have that chance. I'm not going to let you waste it. Prove to be a _strong_ vessel for me." **The Kyuubi growled out, the fox-Fubuki disappearing as it was replaced with the fox's large form, which took up nearly the entire pond.

Fubuki stared at the fox, biting her lip as she took a deep breath, and soon she was calm again, her eyes showing the focus that she had once before. "Yes.. I can't stay in the past like that can I? Geez.. You're helping me again huh Kyuubi." She asked with a grin, but it fell to a frown as the fox did not grin back. "What's wrong?"

"**You."** Fubuki frowned further at that, her head tilting in confusion. **"You cannot be Naruto anymore, Kit. So I'm going to tell you something that will help with that...**" This time the fox did grin, which was both frightening and, at the same time, filling Fubuki with a small bit of happiness. **"I will begin to teach you, starting with one of the basic of the Fox abilities. However.."** The fox quickly added, noticing the look of excitement that came over the girl's features. **"You must first do something for me, as I cannot regularly speak to you unless your emotions fluctuate, as they have been. So.." **

With a sudden tug on her stomach, Fubuki found herself face-to-face with the Kyuubi in it's large gate that was sealed with a single talisman with the word "Seal" printed across it in Kanji. She did, however, notice that instead of the large sewer system that had plagued the mind-state before, it was now a lush plain of green grass with the gate that held the Kyuubi being apart of a large cave that was just a very large rock , completely out of place in the large field.

Kyuubi, seeing her confusion, smirked. **"With your mind-state becoming more solid and.. well, happy, the area in your mind also changed. Even my prison is more roomy.. However, what I need is more freedom if I am to train you."** Fubuki narrowed her eyes at the giant fox, and it sighed slightly. **"I know, you do not completely trust me.. But I am willing to make an oath. A demon oath." **Again the confused look returned on her face, and the fox seemed to shuffle his large paws and glance away, as if seeing it unnerved the fox's mind. **"A demon oath is something that I must abide to the letter, or I will lose all of my tails to whoever I betray, and if you were to break it then I would take /your/ tails, but since you have none I would simply take your body.. If it wasn't for the fact that this seal would prevent me from doing so anyways." **

This clearly had her attention now as she leaned forward, sitting cross legged in front of the large gate. The demon let out a raspy sigh and leaned forward, pushing a small bowl forward with it's paw until the bowl escaped the gate, resting in front of the blonde girl in front of him. She looked up at him in confusion as he huffed slightly, shuffling again.

"**Alright.. Cut your wrist and drip blood into the bowl.. Then push the bowl back in here and I will do the same." **Slowly nodding, she did so with a Kunai that she had hidden in her Kimono sleeve and she slit her wrist, the one that didn't have her bracelet, open and this had the blood pooling down rapidly until the flow was quickly cut off by her unnatural regeneration. She noticed, however, that this wound did leave a red scar over her wrist, but she didn't question it. She pushed the bowl back through the thick bars of the gate, and the fox put it's own wrist above the bowl, cutting it's wrist open with its' other claw. The dark blood only dripped once, unlike Fubuki's, before the wound closed completely with a dull hiss, but even then the blood filled up most of the bowl.

Clearing it's throat, the Kyuubi began to speak once more. **"Upon my tails, I swear on this blood oath to never attempt to cause my Oath-sister harm, or any that she holds dear." **The small blonde smiled softly at it's words, as it slowly pushed the blood bowl back over towards her. **"To accept this oath and, in turn, allow me more freedom in this prison of mine, you must drink the blood we share** **and then I will do the same."** With a slight hesitation the girl leaned forward, taking the heavy bowl into her hands and slowly taking a drink of the blood. She felt the warm liquid flow down her throat, filling her with a fiery warmth and she almost felt disappointed when the fox took the bowl from her, chuckling softly.

"**Do not drink it all, kit, or this would be a worthless oath." **The demon chuckled lightly before throwing the bowl into it's open maw, swallowing the bowl and blood whole. The effect was instant, as half of the talisman that read "Seal" was split apart, now only reading "Se", and a moment later the large over-shadowing gates melted away, and so did the cave. However, a thick tree slowly sprouted where the cave once was, and Fubuki watched in wonder as the lush plain became a vast forest, with very tall trees that threatened to swallow up the sky above.

She looked around, a confused expression on her face. "Kyuubi? Where are you?" She questioned, standing up to her full height. She heard a dull chuckle and turned her head towards the source as a large fox began to walk towards her. It was about her height when on all fours and had three lovely red tails swaying behind it, and the two ruby eyes that stared straight into Fubuki's electric blue. "There you are! What happened? You got smaller.." She tapped her chin, noticing that the fox was also sporting a thick metal collar that red "Seal" across the front, in the same manner the talisman had just moments ago.

"It seems that this was the way it gave me freedom, by allowing my mind and three tails worth of chakra free to do whatever.. Of course, I think the tails are just for show now.. I don't feel like I have three tails." The fox admitted, twirling it's tails around into a tight coil. "Ah well.. Back to the point, with my freedom as it is I have already done what is needed for right now."

At her questioning stare the fox chuckled again, sitting down on it's hind legs, though it shuffled it's front paws together to block any view that the girl wished to get on the demon's nether regions, knowing that was what she was going to look towards. Said girl pouted at being found out so easily but looked at the fox with a questioning stare. "So what's the deal? What did you do to me, Kyu?" The fox twitched at the nickname and sighed, tapping it's tails against the ground.

"I have..adapted your mind into that of a fox demon." It said simply, continuing quickly before she could interrupt though. "What this means is that you are now able to use the instinctive abilities a Kitsune has, and what we are most famous for is our illusions and our cunning." The fox twirled it's tails about, staring at the confused looking girl. "You wished to be someone else, so I have made it possible. You are familiar with your .. Henge Jutsu." The girl nodded, crossing her arms. She could do that Jutsu without any seals. The fox smirked, nodding it's head. "That Jutsu is now obsolete. I have given you an enhanced version, working the exact same way but you will have to channel my chakra in order to use it.. With the natural reserves you have stocked away in your system right now, you should have more then enough to try it out. I'm sure you can see the difference after a few tries."

Fubuki slowly nodded her head, putting her hands together as she channeled the Kyuubi's chakra. A moment later, the entire mind-state flashed red as she called out the Jutsu. "Henge!" She yelled out, and there was a poof of smoke as she found herself to be Houka.

"Houka" rubbed her eyes slowly, and they winded as the smoke cleared, noticing that the fox was much taller than it was a moment ago. "W.. Wha?" She stuttered out, looking around with wide eyes. "H..Hey wait, isn't the Henge only supposed to be a visual illusion! I shouldn't really be this short!" The Kyuubi chuckled, nodding it's head towards the girl.

"That's right, it is.. But this is not just an illusion anymore. The Kitsunes can make illusions real, and with your mind adapted to them, your subconscious is able to make something this simple real. Of course, this also means that having this transformation will not take any chakra to maintain, as you truly are that body until you change back by canceling the Jutsu or simply changing forms again. Simple, no?" The fox chuckled as the girl poofed back to normal, her arms wrapping around it's fury neck.

"Thanks Kyu!" She cooed out, rubbing behind the fox's ears, much to it's ire and pleasure.

"Mm.." The fox pulled away from the petting to sigh, staring at the girl with annoyance on it's face. "I'm going to sleep, you should too. You have a big day tomorrow kit."

Fubuki's head snapped up as she found herself once again sitting in front of the pond, her eyes narrowed as she stared down into her reflection once more. Slowly, she reached up, touching her whisker marks as she had just moments before, an focused her chakra. She watched in wonder as her fingers seemed to simply erase the whisker markings, leaving her cheeks completely smooth, unlike before where the whiskers left a small curve in them. Smiling she began to stand up, leaving the rest of her body the way it already was. "Fubuki Uzumaki is truly born today." She muttered to herself, crossing her arms as she walked. A smile crossed her face as she thought of returning to Konoha, and as she slid into her room she laid down on her bed, glancing over at her sister, giggling at the look on her face.

With a small smile she slid herself closer to the girl, pulling her into a soft embrace as the girl pushed her head into Fubuki's shoulder. Giving off a soft chuckle, Fubuki closed her eyes and rested her head against the brown hair of her sister, and she couldn't help but think of Konoha's large gates and the bird song that woke her every day when she was Naruto.

Tomorrow will be a good day.

0-0-0-0 Uzumaki Lore Page 12 0-0-0-0

War.. is horrible. Death was everywhere I looked, and there was nothing but grim faced warriors who greeted me as I made my way to my father's tent. Even then, he was as grim as the rest of them. The Haretsu clan pushed us hard, and we lost many people to just their frontal force. I myself lost my left arm, and had it not been for the thoughtfulness of my mother to teach me the Stitch seal, I would still not have it. As it is, I can barely move it, but the nerves will reconnect soon, my Regeneration seal is seeing to that.

My father assigned me to assist the medics in reconnecting missing body parts for the fallen, and then they will be sent home to recuperate. Without a regeneration seal, it is highly probable that it will take years for them to use their limbs to their maximum again. I agreed, and taught the medics the design for the stitch seal, though I left out how you activate it in order to prevent my mother from complaining too much about how freely I am exposing the Uzumaki seals.

Hashirama was wounded as well, but he only laughed when I asked him to get treated. Even now I can feel my cheeks heat up at the memory, his shirtless body glistening with sweat and blood as he bit into his apple, courtesy of his Nature blood line, and a smile on his face as he stared at me.

_War._ He said.. an odd twinkle in his eye. _War is full of hate, full of pain. My pain is barely an ant.. No, barely an existence compared to those who have lost their precious people today. Don't treat me, my sweet Mito, as their pain is greater than my own.. and mine will only mirror that if I were to lose you. _And then he left, leaving me staring after him with wide eyes and a red face...

Ahh.. He's such a flirt.

0-0-0-0 The Next Day 0-0-0-0

Fubuki yawned again as she dodged blows from Houka, keeping her body relaxed as she moved herself around the girl's right hook, and then she flipped backwards to dodge the Nin's leg sweep. The blonde landed neatly on her hands, smirking up at the annoyed Academy student. "What's wrong Houka-Nee? Tired already?" She giggled, back flipping away from another fist.

"Why'd you get rid of your whisker marks, Fubuki-Onee! They were pretty.." She grumbled out, causing the Kyuubi Container to arch her eyebrows, her hands on her hips.

"That's whats bugging you? People will recognize me really easily if I had my whisker marks, and isn't that what we're trying to avoid?" She tapped her foot as the brunette pouted, crossing her arms.

"Still! I liked them.." Fubuki sighed, about to explain to the girl, again, how and why she had removed them, but she was interrupted as Yuzzuna entered the room, nodding his head.

"It's time. Come." He said simply, walking out of the room and, a moment later, out of the house. The two girl's followed him out, both taking a brief moment to examine the clothes that they were given to wear on their trip back home. Fubuki was wearing a loose white top that hugged her chest, stopping just above her stomach and it had a large blue snowflake printed on the front, and with that she was also wearing a black short-sleeved jacket that was unzipped to expose the white top and she also was wearing a pair of long black pants with an orange spiral on the sides of her hips, the only orange that Ayumi had allowed her to wear, and the pants had two loops on the sides for her swords when she got them from Tiara. Lastly she had on a pair of white Shinobi sandals that were slightly hidden under the legs of the pants.

Houka was dressed in a similar way, wearing a black top with a red flame spreading across it and a white jacket that was also open, but the collar was higher than Fubuki's, allowing Houka to hide her face if she were to zip it up and it had dark blue lightning going around the collar that would connect if she had it zipped up. The collar also had an added connection, which was a long red scarf with lightning coursing down it, as an apology from Ayumi for throwing out her old scarf. This scarf, however, wasn't long enough to trip the small girl and she had thanked Ayumi with a large hug. She was also wearing a pair of black Shinobi sandals, and her pants also had a loop on the back for her Gladius when she also retrieved it from Tiara.

The two made their way behind Yuzzuna, walking over the bridge, and a moment later they were even past the pond. They frowned as they followed, wondering why the exit was so far away until they reached a large group of the Demi-Goddesses. They flinched as the crowd started to rush towards them and looked up at Yuzzuna for assistance. "H.. Hey! They're going to run us right over!" Houka yelled at him, but all he did was smirk as the two were surrounded before they could even turn around to run, both blushing heavily as they were pushed against the large chests of the women and hugged tightly, all of them saying how much they would miss the girls.

"W.. We'll be back to visit!" Fubuki choked out, visibly paler as she began to run out of oxygen. The girl's all giggled in response, pulling away from the girl's to give them some breathing room. They smiled at them , happy to truly be accepted here. Ayumi and Yuna stepped through the crowd, smiling and taking the girls into a tight hug, Ayumi with Fubuki and Yuna with Houka.

"It'll be less lively without you here, Fubuki-Chan, Houka-Chan. Come visit soon." The girl's smiled at Ayumi's words and Houka grinned at Yuna, pumping her fist against the small Goddess, in a boyish manner, and she, of course, returned the action with a grin of her own.

"Don't get weaker out there Houka-Baka." She said with a giggle, earning a mock-scowl from the girl.

"You too Yuna! When I come back, let's have a rematch!" The girl nodded as Tiara began to walk towards them, holding their three blades in her arms. She knelt down a bit, handing them their blades with a smile.

"Here you are you two, I made them to match the clothes I gave you too." The two grinned at her, taking a moment to study their sheaths. Fubuki's gold blade had a large blue fox printed around it, the mouth being open at the very end, on both sides of it and it seemed to be shooting out a jet of water. The other was the opposite, having a large fox facing the other way with the mouth stopping at the hilt of the blade and looking like the entire thing was surrounded by wind. The fox was also a light green color rather then blue.

On Houka's there was a sideways design, having a what looked like a burning town on the left side of the blade and lightning striking down towards the town on the right. They smiled at the designs, sliding them into the loops that was located on their pants and they both wrapped their arms around the girl, thanking her for the sheaths. Tiara blushed, smiling and nodding, returning the hug and then she melted back into the crowd around them.

It was Yuzzuna that stepped up last, holding two dark green backpacks that had the Konoha symbol printed on the back in a dark red color. "These are filled with supplies you are going to need on your trip, such as food and tents." They gave him a confused look as he tossed the backpacks to him, and he chuckled slightly. "I'm sure you thought I would just drop you outside the gate or something but I'm afraid that is outside of my power due to my sealing of the way you came in, which was the only exit in that area. Instead, you will start a few days away from Konoha and will have to walk there. I have include a map in your backpack, Fubuki." The girl nodded at him, smiling.

"Thank you Yuzzuna, it was nice meeting you and every one else." She glanced at the bracelet on her wrist and then slid the backpack straps over her shoulders, and then she stepped forward, pulling the man into a tight hug. He chuckled lightly, feeling Houka also give him a hug, and he briefly returned it before patting them on the head.

"Before you go, however, know that you are always welcome here. Also.." He reached into the front of his kimono, pulling out two white scrolls, one having Houka's name printed across it and the other having Fubuki's. The two exchanged confused looks as he handed them to their respective owners. "This is a full set of Jutsu I think would benefit you two, and I have sealed them in a way that you need to at least master a majority before moving onto the next rank. You're already able to get to the D and C rank all you wish." He smiled, chuckling lightly. "Just be sure to seal them back up when you are done with them, it's simply scrolls sealed within the scroll in order to help you guys from having to lug around all that extra baggage." He chucked lightly as they smiled up at him, giving him another tight hug.

It was Yuzzuna who pulled away this time, however, as he turned around, putting his hands together in front of him and then seeming to grip the air in front of him, causing several eyes to widen as he literally ripped a hole in the air, showing a large open clearing in a large forest on the other side of the hole. Yuzzuna grunted, stepping back slowly. "Go quickly, this won't last long and it won't be as easy to open the next time." The two nodded, hastily running through the open hole, though Fubuki stopped just outside it and turned around, smiling at them.

"We'll be back to visit, you can count on it! And we'll be stronger then ever!" Yuzzuna laughed softly as the women of the Land yelled out to the two Uzumaki, and Yuzzuna nodded towards them as the hole began to close.

"We'll look forward to it, Fubuki. Remember, anytime you need me just contact me with your gift." He smiled as she nodded, holding up her arm and gripping the top of it as she held a clenched fist up towards him, showing off the bracelet on her wrist.

"Believe it!"

0-0-0-0 Konoha, three days earlier 0-0-0-0

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he felt a wave of anxiety and sadness wash over him. He was a hardened Shinobi, however, and wouldn't allow himself to spill tears, especially when he was on the job. Speaking of his job, he was currently going through a debriefing of a Chunin that he had assigned to track the targets of his anxiety, or rather, the lack of targets.

Sighing once more, the old Hokage looked up at Iruka Umino, one of his favorite and most experienced Chunin, as he began to talk of their findings of his search, though at the man's grim expression he could already guess what the findings were. Sighing, he focused on the man's report.

"We searched high and low for them, Hokage-Sama, but all we found were these." He slowly put a slightly ripped scarf on the man's desk, blood stains littered down the fabric. The Chunin hesitated as he began to pull out the next piece of evidence, a pained look in his eyes that mirrored the pain in the Hokage's own. Slowly, he placed a headband on the desk, choking back a sob at the blood and scratch coated metal. "It's all that was there, Hokage-Sama." He muttered quietly, fiddling with the fabric of the headband, a headband that had once been his.

Sarutobi slowly reached forward, taking the band from the man , much to his obvious distress, and he let out a heavy sigh as he stared at his reflection in the metal, his finger slowly tracing the Konoha symbol printed on it's steel. "I see.. Very well, as of right now, unless further proof is found, Sarutobi Konohamaru and Uzumaki Naruto are labeled as dead until..." He paused as the door to his room opened, and both he and Iruka turned to see who had entered the room. Sarutobi repressed a sigh as he saw his old teammates, along with his rival, walk into the room. "Can I hep you Danzo, Homura, Koharu?" He questioned quietly, trying to control the sorrow in his voice so that his rival, Danzo, did not pester him with it later.

It was Danzo who stepped forward first, staring towards the scarf and headband on the old Sarutobi's desk. "Yes, I believe we need to talk about the recent matters that have taken place." His face was completely neutral as he spoke, though with the years that Hiruzen spent around the man, he could tell he was smirking ever so slightly.

"What do you have in mind, Danzo? Did you find them?" At the shake of the man's head, the Hokage shrugged. "Then there is nothing to discuss. They have been lost to the clouds, as many other Shinobi have when attempting to climb to it's peak." Danzo shook his head , and Hiruzen repressed a growl as the man began to speak once more.

"They have never been lost, Sarutobi, they were simply replaced at a lower part of the mountain. Along with that, the two used a Catapult, as your grandson's friends tell us at least, to launch themselves to the top. Our initial reaction was that they had crashed against the rocky surface of the mountain..but if they were truly dead then where are the bodies?" Sarutobi's eyes narrowed, and Koharu and Homura shifted slightly as killing intent flashed across the room, but Danzo's face continued to remain neutral.

"What are you trying to get at, Danzo..?" The old ninja chuckled slightly, turning towards the Hokage with a slight smirk openly showing on his face now.

"I am saying that the two are not dead, nor are they unable to return to Konoha. Those two, as far as we know, are not dead, but simply out of the village.. by choice, if anything." Hiruzen slowly started to stand up as the man continued talking, the old Hokage's eyes being hidden by his Hokage hat. "I believe that it would be our best intention to label Uzumaki Naruto and Sarutobi Konohamaru as Missing Nin."

That was all the man got out before he was sent flying past both Koharu and Homura, who both paled as the sheer force behind the blow caused them to stumble back from the air pressure behind it. Danzo, however, looked up from the splinters that made up the Hokage's door, panting as blood trickled down the side of his head and sheer shock was on his features, his one 'good' eye being wide open in surprise.

The Hokage, however, looked completely calm as he sat back down, showing no sign that he was the one who had struck the old council member. He took a puff of his pipe, staring towards the enraged Chunin who was staring down Danzo, his fist out stretched and his chakra flowing around him. "Thank you, Iruka, I fear I would have been forced to do it if you did not." The Hokage chuckled out, earning a brisk nod from the man. "You are dismissed, all of you. As of right now, Sarutobi Konohamaru and Uzumaki Naruto are labeled as dead, not Missing Nin." With a wave of his hand, two ANBU appeared, reaching down to assist Danzo out of his splintered prison.

Moments later he was alone again, and the man took a puff of his pipe, staring out towards the window that showed him almost all of Konoha. Sighing, he shook his head, placing his hand over his face.

Konohamaru.. Naruto.. Where are you?

0-0-0-0 Uzumaki Lore Page 13 0-0-0-0

I met Uchiha Madara today. He's not as bad as everyone says he is, and he and Hashirama seem to have a little rivalry going on, though I have no idea what for. Madara is the head of the Uchiha clan, and it was apparently his idea for all of them to team up together, definitely outside the normal Uchiha personality that I had been told all my life.

He's pretty nice, to be honest, though he always gets this far away look at the start of battle.. I wonder what that's about? I never sense any negative emotions from him when he does that either, just some sort of.. relaxed feeling. I guess fighting relaxes him?

Ah, I'm talking about my own thoughts again!Anyways.. We've been messing around here for awhile now, and we finally managed to push back the Haretsu clan to their back lines. My reflection seal seemed to have helped quite a bit, but I think it was the work of our forces that really got us to victory.

We'll be pushing further tomorrow, hopefully this war will end soon.

0-0-0-0 Three Days Later – The wilderness. 0-0-0-0

Fubuki stared at the tree that they had just came through, as it seemed the portal had actually _been_ inside the tree, or maybe it was just in front of the tree? She didn't know. Sighing, she pulled her pack off her shoulders, sitting down and starting to rummage through it, though she paused to move into a cross-legged position so her blades would stop hitting the ground. She found a tent, a sleeping bag, her Jutsu scroll, the Uzumaki Lore book, and another scroll. She removed the unknown scroll, opening it up slowly and reading it's contents.

"_This holds your cooking supplies, just a pot, some spices, and some ramen for my girl's – Kasumi."_

Fubuki smiled, putting the scroll back into her bag as she stood up, looking back and forth. "Houka! You can stop scouting now, we need to figure out where we're going first!" She giggled slightly as Houka fell out of the tree above her, landing on her feet but with twigs and leaves littered in her outfit and hair. The blonde grinned, brushing the leaves out, causing the younger girl to blush softly. "Come on, let's study the map and see where we are."

Houka nodded, reaching into her own bag and pulling the map out. She sat down, placing the map on the ground as the two leaned over to study it. "I think we're here Fubuki-Onee." Houka stated, pointing at a large clearing that was located far north of Konoha, with about two towns in it's way if they were to travel directly south of it.

"I think so too.. We can travel a bit south and set up camp, or we can set up camp here and train for a bit. I think it's getting dark anyways." Fubuki turned her head towards the dimming sky, unable to see the sun because of the mass of trees blocking her vision, though she supposed she could just climb to the top of one..

Houka nodded, starting to take off her pack. "I think that's a good idea, I'm hungry anyways!" She pouted at the giggle her sister gave her as she began to unload a few scrolls. "Kasumi-Chan said these carry lots of meat and stuff." She said as Fubuki also began to unload her items, along with the tent and sleeping bag. "I didn't get either of those.." Houka muttered, staring towards the items in question.

The Kyuubi Container nodded, unsealing the kettle. "We'll take turns keeping watch, I'm guessing that's what they meant by only giving us one.."

0-0-0-0

"Ayumi! You forgot to give Houka her sleeping bag!"

"Oops.."

0-0-0-0

"But anyways." Fubuki continued, setting up the pot on some metal handles to keep it above the fire, when they got it started. "Go out and get some sticks for the fire so we can cook, I'll set up the rest of the camp." Houka nodded, bounding off into the trees as Fubuki began to set up the tent, tossing the sleeping bag inside it when she was done.

She stared at thee empty pot, slowly placing her hands together as she channeled her chakra. Slowly the water in the air began to slowly push the water in the air into the pot. She struggled a bit, feeling her chakra draining as she did this, and with a heavy pant she let go, staring into the pot again. She sweat dropped, seeing that it was barely an inch full. Shaking her head, she summoned several Shadow Clones to examine the area for water.

She sat down, yawning as she waited for Houka and her clones to return. Slowly she pulled out the Jutsu scroll that Yuzzuna had handed her, and was surprised that it went all the way down to S-ranked, but there was a "Seal" Kanji over it that blocked her from retrieving anything from that section. Slowly she unsealed the D-rank, showing a majority of basic Jutsu that she already knew or knew she couldn't actually use, such as the Bunshin. Scanning the C-rank, she smiled choosing a few of the more offensive ones she could see.

Laying out the scroll she focused her chakra, focusing on the names of the Jutsu scrolls to pull them out. She was rewarded with three that poofed out and she smirked, glad she studied seals briefly when Yuzzuna forced them to read. She started to unroll the first Jutsu scroll when Houka jumped into the clearing, holding an armful of sticks. She placed them under the pot, glancing over towards Fubuki. "I got the sticks, Fubuki-Onee. Should I light them?" At the blonde's nod, she started to do a few seals and she pulled her head back, letting out a steady stream of fire under the pot to burn the sticks, making a small fire.

Houka sat down, retrieving her own scroll and doing the same that Fubuki had done, though she stayed around the D-ranks a bit longer and even unsealed a few to read over them. A few moments later, two Fubuki clones returned with salutes as they stared at their creator. "We found a river not far from here, Four and Five are gathering water right now, as Four transformed into an extra pot." Fubuki nodded at them and they dispelled, causing the girl to furrow her brows slightly as the exact information spilled into her mind. Shaking off the wave of dizziness that came from the information, she turned towards her scrolls again to study them.

0-0-0-0 The Next Day 0-0-0-0

Fubuki slammed her blade into the side of the large tree in front of her, the entire thing being littered with numerous cuts. She had been getting used to the weight of her blade all night, having taken the entire shift and letting Houka sleep the day away. The brown haired girl was still asleep currently and with a tired sigh, Fubuki slid her blades back into their respective sheaths, starting to slowly do hand seals that she had clones practice on the side, hoping that her hunch was correct.

It seemed that it _was_ correct, as she remembered the hand signs easily and her body felt as if she had been practicing herself, even though it was a clone. "It looks like my muscles still remember the feeling of making the seals." She muttered quietly to herself, going through them quickly now and pulling her head back slowly as she stared towards the tree she had been cutting moments before. With a sudden movement, she shot a large ball of water at the tree, impacting it and leaving a large indention in the bark. She grinned leaning back, rubbing her lips which were dripping slightly with water. "Suiton: Teppoudama." (Water Bullet) She muttered to herself.

Looking over the scrolls again she started to do another set of short seals, and then she looked towards the tree itself, focusing on the water that had dripped down from the bullet she had just shot. "Suiton: Suikemono Sakusei!" (Water Animal Creation) She called out and the water formed into a small set of birds that flew around the blonde girl, and she grinned widely at them. "Awesome! Let's see.." She focused again, staring at the four birds and suddenly they shot against the tree, leaving small cuts and indents in the bark much like the Water Bullet had, but with an obvious lack of strength compared to the bullet.. "Hmm.. I'll have to give that some sort of extra power.. Maybe..." She looked over the scrolls again, looking towards the Fuuton section, since Yuzzuna mostly stuffed Suiton and Fuuton in her scroll.

She grinned and stood back up, reforming the small birds and then she slapped her hands together, forcing her wind chakra to swirl around her hands as she prepared for the Jutsu. "Fuuton: Reppuuken!" (Gale Palm Wind) She called out, sending a blast of wind that seemed to fuse with her water birds, causing them to leave much deeper and more defined cuts and indents against the crumbling bark. She grinned, rubbing her nose slightly. "This is awesome! I never knew there were so many cool Jutsu out there!" She giggled out.

"Fubuki-Onee..?" Came a tired voice from behind her and the blonde turned around to see a tired looking Houka rubbing her eyes, staring up at the girl with a soft smile. "Weren't we supposed to take turns watching?" Fubuki rubbed the back of her head, grinning nervously.

"Yeah but you looked like you needed sleep, and I'm not feeling tired at all." She yawned right after saying this, causing the brown haired girl to giggle slightly while Fubuki blushed, grinning a bit. "Okay so I lied a little."

Houka shook her head, starting to pack up the tent and sleeping bag into Fubuki's pack. "I think we should go to the next town Fubuki-Onee, and then you can rest." Fubuki nodded, ruffling the small girl's hair a bit, much to her annoyance, and then she started to help by packing up the littered scrolls, the pot, and she carefully put out the fire with a water manipulation, and then she tossed the sticks to the side to keep them out of the way.

Moments later they were moving through the trees, following the map south to their next destination, and both wore matching smiles as they thought of their home in Konoha, unknowing that nothing will ever truly be the same again.

0-0-0-0 Hours Later – Yoshiway Spring Town0-0-0-0

Houka panted heavily, her small body unused to running for so long and she sat herself on a small wooden bench, looking over towards her sister who, excepting the bags under her eyes, looked completely unaffected by the traveling. She shook her head slightly, sighing. "How are you so awake, Onee-Chan? I'm completely out of breath!" The small girl whined and her sister just giggled at her, shaking her head.

"I've always had pretty good stamina. Tell you what, you stay here and rest alright? I'll go find an Inn for us to stay at." The girl nodded, thankful for a chance to rest. The blonde smiled walking off into the town, taking in the medium sized buildings and the busy-merchants running around to buy and sell many wares.

She shook her head at their actions as she made her way to a large inn, titled the "Sleep Inn", and she made her way inside, and was greeted by an old man that smiled kindly at her. "Welcome to the Sleep Inn, would you like a room?"

Fubuki nodded, reaching into her pack. "Yes I'd like a room for..." She frowned, pulling her pack off her back and staring into it as she shuffled around in the pockets with one hand. "Hm.. It looks like I don't have any money.." She muttered, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "I thought I brought my wallet before.."

0-0-0-0

"Ayumi.. What is this frog thing?"

"Oh that's Fubuki-Chan's wallet! It was dirty so I... Oops.."

0-0-0-0

She scratched her head as she slid her pack back onto her back. "Sorry about that! I don't have any money so I'll be back later!" She turned on her heel and ran out of the hotel, not noticing the old man's gesture to wait and he let out a soft sigh as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"I would have offered her some work.. Ah well." He muttered, turning away from the door as he pulled up a book to read.

Fubuki, however, was going along the merchants asking for work, however they seemed to be completely against the idea of her working, even for a little, as there had been a thief around recently with the same story. She frowned, rubbing her head as she walked through the town, sighing as she thought of how she was going to tell this to Houka.

0-0-0-0 Meanwhile 0-0-0-0

A large old man grunted under his breath, his eyes unfocused as he thought of the report he was just given. His old student's legacy had been killed, in a freak accident apparently, and he hadn't had even the slightest chance to actually meet the boy! Sighing, he shook his head, his clogs tapping against the ground as he walked. Soon, however, he found himself covering his eyes as the sun poured over the ground and he grunted again, cursing his old age making his eyes more sensitive than they should be.

Those old eyes widened, however, as he watched a young woman walking towards him, her eyebrows knitted into a perfect frame of confusion and her lovely pink lips forming the smoothest of frowns. She was in a outfit that was just begging to be oogled, and if you knew the man, he was a grade A oogler.

However, it wasn't the body's assets that got his attention, but the actions it gave out as it moved. It was the way her body swayed, the way her face was shaped and, more importantly, those bright lively light blue eyes that seemed to draw in his very soul, and the bright red hair that glistened in the sun. He shook his head quickly, seeming to want to clear his thoughts of the woman and when he opened his eyes he bit back a curse to find that she was staring up at him, a confused expression on her face. "Can I help you?" She questioned, putting her hands on her hips and causing the old man to bite back a gasp at the sight.

"Ah.. Uh.." He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts and instead gave the woman one of his world famous grin-and-dance routines, causing her to arch her eyebrows upwards and step back slightly to avoid his hair as he swung his head. "I ammmm.." He tapped his foot three times, causing a loud clank against the ground. "Jiraiya of the Sannin! Pleased to meet you ma'am!"He announced, winking towards the woman in a way that, usually, got a woman's heart to melt.

This one, however, simply walked past him with a roll of her eyes. "Yeah yeah.. See ya." She waved back at him, however she was unprepared for a grip on her neck jerking her backwards. The man recoiled in surprise as the woman turned around, breaking free of his grasp easily and with the grace that belonged to a trained Kunochi, he found the two blades that he had over looked on his previous examination of the woman being placed right at his neck. "I don't know who you are, buddy, but keep your hands off, alright?" She glared at him as he chuckled, amused by her reaction.

As he studied her closer, however, he found that her eyes were a darker blue than he had thought and her red hair was actually a dark blonde, seeming to have just gotten into changing colors from the look of it. "Forgive me, miss, but you remind me of someone very dear to me." He said quietly, crossing his arms, showing no fear of the blades at his neck. "So why don't you tell me who you are?" The girl narrowed her eyes slightly.

"I've never met you before, but fine. My name is Fubuki Uzumaki." With a twirl she slid her blades back into their respective sheaths, and she began to turn on her heel and walk away to ignore the look of shock on the man's face. "I have to go get some money, so I don't have time to mess around with you."

Jiraiya, however, was completely stunned. An Uzumaki? Here? His spies reported that the last one died with Naruto, who died just four days ago! It was utterly impossible for this girl to have dodged him for so long..unless.. "Hey wait!" He shouted out, running up to the girl who turned towards him with her long hair swaying in the wind and he bit back another gasp as he stared at her, her entire body and movements being the exact same of the Uzumaki he had last seen, the wife of his favorite, and last, student.

"I have a few questions.." He said tentatively, unknowingly being careful with the girl's temper, as Kushina had always been quite easy to annoy. The girl rolled her eyes, starting to walk again. "I'll pay you for your time." He grinned as she stopped. That got her attention.

"What kind of pay?" She asked, not turning towards him as she rested her hands on her blades. "And what exactly are you going to ask?" Jiraiya grinned further.

"Tell you what, come with me for dinner and we'll discuss it there. So you'll be getting dinner _and_ paid for your questions." The girl turned towards him, a frown still playing on her lips as she thought it over.

"May I bring my sister?" Jiraiya's eyes threatened to pop out of his sockets at her words. Not one, but TWO Uzumaki children had hid from his spy network all these years? He nodded at her and she grinned this time, and for the briefest of moments Jiraiya truly did see Kushina grinning at him, although this girl seemed to have much longer fangs than his old friend had. "Alright! I hope you brought a big wallet." And with that, she was gone, disappearing as she walked around a building to retrieve her sister.

Jiraiya crossed his arms, waiting as he as he sorted his thoughts. Two Uzumaki girls had just revealed themselves to him, and one looked completely like Kushina excepting the eyes and hair. However, as he thought of her face smiling at him he couldn't help but mirror it to the now deceased Kunochi that he had taking a high liking to before she met her untimely end when her son was born. These morbid thoughts kept Jiraiya busy for a good portion of his wait until he began to grow slightly restless, which he quickly scolded himself for. He was a Sannin! One of the top Shinobi of the world! He should be the very epitome of patience and hard work.

His scolding over, the man took a few steps away from where he had stood and sat down on a nearby bench, grateful that the city had a numerous supply of the wooden chairs scattered about. A few moments later the blonde ran back into his view, and he raised his eyebrow at the small brown-haired girl beside her. The girl, like her sister, had a shocking resemblance to Kushina as well, but it wasn't nearly as defined as the blonde had. The only real part that did stick out for his mind to see the resemblance was the way her face was shaped and the round eyes. The brown hair, however, reminded him of his teacher, which made no sense at all. Throwing that into the "Questions to e asked" bin in his mind, he smiled at the two as he stood up, just as they stopped in front of him.

"Here he is Houka-Chan. This is Jiraiya of the..." Fubuki began, smiling down at her sister who, at first, hadn't believed her.

"Of the Sannin. I know." The small girl cut off her older sister, earning a pout from the Kyuubi Container, and she turned her gaze up towards him with her eyes narrowing slightly. "A notorious pervert too if what Gran-" A hand clasped over her mouth before she could finish and Jiraiya, slightly pouting from the 'pervert' comment, raised his eyebrows as the blonde girl pulled her hand away from her sister's mouth who looked slightly ashamed.

"You had some of breakfast on your mouth, you should wash better." The blonde chirped out, then quickly turned her gaze to the white-haired man in front of her. "Now then, you promised us dinner so here we are! I'll answer questions with in reason, of course." Jiraiya scrunched his nose up slightly at the girl. She was definitely suspicious and no doubt hiding something, but he couldn't read into her too much, having just met the girl.

However, he still grinned widely, putting his hands on his hips as he turned around. "Yep! So let's go! I know the perfect restaurant here!" He announced, marching off while glancing towards the two behind him who followed him with out complaint, thinking he knew where he was going.

Fubuki, however, stayed silent due to her own thoughts mixing in her head. She knew the man was from Konoha, having skimmed a book in the Library about the war that plagued the land and in a brief chapter it explained how the three Sannin had been given their title by Hanzo, Lord of the Rain Village. Without a doubt, this man could very easily unravel what and who they were, and that would completely ruin their efforts to become someone new.. To start over.

Fubuki wasn't about to let that happen.

She strained her mind, trying to think of how she could not only fool the man, but herself into a state that she could avoid any mishaps and not give him that she didn't want him to know. She was happy that she was actually able to think of such things now, as she felt if she had remained her old dusty-minded self the jig would be up before it could even begin. Fubuki was so lost in her thoughts that she nearly hit the large back of Jiraiya as he stopped to pull the door to the restaurant open. He glanced back at her with a raised eyebrow and she just smiled, rubbing the back of her head. "Oops?"

He rolled his eyes, almost seeming to have a ghost of a smile on his face as he walked inside, taking a seat in a booth at random and staring as the two girls made their way to the opposite booth at the same table, with a brief pause as Fubuki slid her swords under the table, as sitting down with them on her waist was uncomfortable. Clearing his throat, Jiraiya decided to get to business before their waiter appeared. "Alright, first a few questions before I treat you two." He grinned at their slightly annoyed expressions, and Fubuki spoke up.

"Fine, but nothing too personal as I said before." She crossed her arms slightly, just under the mounds that made up her breasts and she visibly twitched as Jiraiya shamelessly stared at the mounds. "I'm not going to answer any questions if you're going to be a pervert."

Jiraiya gave a soft pout at being called a pervert again, but let it pass as he focused on the more important matter at hand. "Alright, so you two are full-blooded Uzumaki, yes? From the Whirlpool country?" At their nods, though there was a slight hesitation from Houka he noticed, he asked his next question. "Where do you live?" The question was simple, and he felt himself narrow his eyes as he watched both of the girls flinch, taking their time to answer him.

Fubuki shuffled her feet slightly under the table with her feet sliding against the sheath of her blades, feeling unease as she prepared to come up with something to tell the man. There was no way they could tell him that they came from Konoha, as that would completely break the path they were walking. She gripped her legs slightly, taking in a shaky breath. _'Calm down.. Deep breaths.. Think.. Calm. I need to be cold, calm, and in full control of my thoughts..'_ Her eyes flickered closed and slowly she pushed her worries and stray thoughts of her head, and she felt a deep ease fall over her mind and body as she relaxed, her thoughts organizing and shuffling into place in her mind as she prepared to answer Jiraiya's question.

The entire process took but seconds, and Jiraiya stared in slight shock as the emotion drained from the girl's face, leaving him with the a calm and collected woman than the slightly nervous and aggressive teen she had been moments before. With a slight clearing of her throat, she began to speak in a way that made Jiraiya's spine tingle, as it was completely calm and controlled to a degree that most Jounin had trouble acting out. "Our parents came from Whirlpool as it fell, going into hiding quickly as they knew they would be sought out for their secrets and anything our blood hid from the public." She paused briefly, her hands folding over her lap as she slowly leaned back in her chair, her entire demeanor echoing an air of calm mind and relaxation.

"Where we lived, I cannot say exactly for I was never shown. However, my parents are both dead, having died as I turned four with my mother dying in giving birth to my sister." The small girl flinched here, though if it was due to the memory or simply the words her sister spoke, Jiraiya could not be sure. Fubuki, however, did not pause in her story. "My father soon died after from grief, and his father took care of us for a majority of his life. We trained under him, learned under him, and in a way he was more of our father than grandfather." She paused again, taking in a breath for air.

"Again, I could not tell you where exactly we live because I do not know. I was never told where we were on the map, and it would matter little at any rate. We burnt the house we lived in to the ground, for fear of any secrets our parents may have left behind, as our grandfather, on his deathbed, wished for us to leave the house and experience the world when I turned at least fourteen and believed I was ready. I am fifteen now, but my birthday was merely days ago." The last part was a complete lie, as all the story had been, but Jiraiya could not tell at all. Her face remained calm throughout the story and neither her actions nor Houka's gave any indication that what she said was not the truth but it still irritated him that they had escaped his spy network for so long.

He began to speak again, to ask his next question, when the waiter finally arrived, though in actuality he had remained at a respectable distance away from the table, waiting for the young blonde to finish speaking. "Forgive me for my tardiness, I didn't want to interrupt." He said calmly, leaning down towards them with a pad and pen appearing in his hands, seemingly from no where. Clearly a professional, which was clearly shown in his appearance as well. He wore a long red tie that was tucked into his V-cut black jacket with a white-undershirt and his black pants and dress-shoes reminded Jiraiya of a wedding tux. The man's head was round with a slight jut at the bottom from his chin and he was completely bare of any facial hair except a smooth mustache that hang off his face, coiled like a spiral at the tips. His eyes seemed to be permanently closed and his lips were curved upwards with lines above the corners, as if he was always smiling.

"Think nothing of it." Fubuki spoke up to the man, just as Jiraiya held his hand up to say almost the same. "I appreciate your thoughtfulness. Expect a decent tip from the man here." She gestured towards Jiraiya, a small smirk on her face as Jiraiya pouted slightly inwardly, but just smiled at the man as he received a curious glance. "Now as for what we are having." Once again, Fubuki cut off Jiraiya and a slight wave of annoyance ran through his body. She was a step ahead of him when it came to speaking. "I will have the steak, medium rare, along with a side of your finest salad, my sister." She gave the girl a slight hair-ruffle of affection. "Will have a burger with ketchup, nothing else but cheese and meat if you please, and a side of fries. I will have a glass of water and she will have a dark soda."

"Diet or no?"

"No. Thank you." The man nodded, scribbling down her orders on his pad and turning his gaze towards Jiraiya, who frowned towards the blonde who was carefully stacking the menus that had remained untouched by anyone excepting Houka, who was staring at her sister with wide eyes. That, in itself, made it clear that Fubuki did not always act like this.

Something about the girl didn't add up. She had been slightly arrogant and aggressive towards him, not trusting him at all and yet.. she did a complete turn-around when he asked her where she lived. He wasn't sure which of the personalities she showed was a ruse, and it was possible, he admitted, that both may been her true personality taking different shapes in her psyche. Such a thing was highly possible especially for one who had lost three of her parent figures in memory. Still, something seemed off about the girl..and he was sure to put his finger on it.

"Sir?" The waiter questioned, his eyebrows tilted up in curiosity. "Your order?" Jiraiya shook his head, clearing his thoughts as he smiled up at the man.

"Just a glass of water and a bowl of miso ramen will do." The man nodded, walking off after scribbling down the order. He turned his gaze back towards the calm blonde and frowned, placing his hands over top of each other on top of the wooden table. "Your story intrigues me, and you have my sympathy for your loss." Her eyebrow arched at that, but she only gave him a nod in answer. "Now that I have some of your background.." He paused, briefly wondering if what he was about to ask was too personal, but he dismissed the thought as this was too important to take any detours. "What are you planning on doing now?"

Silence fell over the table as Houka looked nervously up at her sister, her fingers tapping lightly against the table. The blonde, however, simply stared towards the wall that rested beside the table they sat at, a large window being apart of the wall with it's gold trimmed frame glistening in the sun light, which, in turn, reflected on the woman's golden hair. Slowly, after several moments that seemed to go on for longer than they should, she spoke. "We are going to Konoha."

If Jiraiya was surprised by the news, he hid it well, for the only action that showed his inner workings was a slight arch of his left eyebrow, as Fubuki had done just moments before. "Is that so?" He muttered, seeming to be disappointed in her choice. On the inside, however, he could have not been any happier. He had already planned on taking them to Konoha, willing or no, as the last possible Uzumaki children had to be protected. It was against his normal morals, but... He owed Kushina. He could at least give her family members a chance at life. Coming back out of his thoughts, he focused on the matter at hand. "And what will you do there?"

Her response was instant, as if she had rehearsed the exact words when she was asked that question. "We will live, Jiraiya-San." She stated, and when Jiraiya thought that was it, she began to speak again in her smooth calm tones. "My sister will enter the ninja academy and I will enter the Genin, if not Chunin, ranks of the Konoha Shinobi force, as my grand father had wished for me to." She gave Jiraiya a hard look as if daring for him to defy her grand father's will, unknowing that Jiraiya was excited at hearing the news, as the look on his face was as calm and collected as hers was.

"That.." The old Sannin started, only to be interrupted by the ramen bowl placed in front of him along with a glass of water, and his eyebrow arched. That was fast. He smiled at the waiter who nodded, his bald head glistening slightly in the light while his mustache seemed to twitch in amusement as he watched Houka bite into her burger with a haste that made Jiraiya wonder if the girl had eaten recently at all. He looked towards Fubuki a moment later and was surprised to see her neatly cutting her steak up into small pieces, with a grace that clearly showed her complete control and table manners as she kept her posture straight, her elbows off the table, and she chewed quietly but efficiently, though he figured that had to do with the fangs that made up her teeth, looking like small knives sticking through the bottom of her gums.

They ate in silence, though Jiraiya caught Fubuki staring at his ramen as he ate it, in an almost longing sort of way, but he dismissed the thought as whenever he looked up to see it again, she was already looking away at something else, or eating her steak and salad. When they were all done, they carefully pushed their dishes to the side, and if it was not for the dishes, it would had seemed like no one had eaten there at all. Jiraiya turned his gaze towards the two as he pulled out a small black wallet, sliding a handful of bills onto the table and then returning his hand into the wallet as he slid another set of bills towards the two, which Fubuki took with a nod and slid it into the left pocket of her jacket.

Clearing his throat slightly, he leaned forward towards them, his eyes looking back and forth between the two sisters. "Now.. I am done asking questions, but I have an proposition for you." Fubuki, as he expected, leaned forward as well, her hands resting under her chin as she gave him a thoughtful expression, her showing a brief flash of distrust for the man that was quickly covered in her calming thoughts. Shaking his head, he spoke again in a low hushed tone, despite that he did not truly care if anyone heard what he said. "You two will not get into Konoha's gates as you are, you lack the official papers or welcoming that any other guests have and the Hokage will not be in the mood to allow you to be an exception." The two nodded slowly, though confusion filled Houka's gaze before a brief flash of realization went through the brown orbs, which was soon replaced by a sorrowful feeling that seemed to weigh the girls eyes down, as she looked towards the ground to escape his view.

He watched her, as Fubuki watched him, and he frowned at her reaction, not knowing why the news of the Hokage's mood would damper her own mood. Fubuki shook her head at him, and he nodded slightly, believing he would find out at a later date. Fubuki spoke suddenly, cutting him off before he could even open his mouth to speak. "What is it you are offering, Jiraiya? Sunlight is burning and so are my eyes." He gave her a confused glance, but soon caught on as he spied the slight tired lines under her eyes. She must have not slept very well, he assumed. Perhaps she wasn't ever as calm as she was now. Nevertheless, Jiraiya answered her and kept his inner thoughts away from the conversation.

"I will escort you both to Konoha and, with my seal as Sannin, allow you to speak and offer your services to the Hokage." He paused, mostly for dramatic effect. "If you would allow me to, of course." The two looked at each other and seemed to communicate with their eyes and body motions, causing Jiraiya's interest to go even further as he questioned how close the sisters were in mind. He was pulled from his thoughts by Fubuki's smooth voice cutting into them.

"A grate offer that we are both grateful for." She said softly, looking towards him with her eyes seeming to swim with a hidden joy at the words he gave them. "However.. I would like to add onto that offer of yours with one of my own." He frowned at her as she reached into the pack that was still firmly strapped on her back, and with it she pulled out a large brown book that seemed to be completely and utterly untouched by time. Curious, he watched as she slowly flipped the book over, revealing the golden letters that littered the front of the book and made his eyes widen as he saw the red spiral underneath the letters.

_Uzumaki Lore Book – A whirlpool of our history._

He felt his hands threatening to snap forward, to grab that piece of literature from the hands that held it, but he kept himself in check. "Where did you get this..?" He said through clenched teeth. That book was another piece of Uzumaki history that his spies had been searching for.. and the fact that it had turned up now of all times had to be some sort of miracle, and yet.. Yet he couldn't shake the feeling of unease that the book gave him, as if it was not made by human hands.

"Relax yourself." Fubuki stated, letting go of the book and letting it rest between them. "As I can tell you already know what this is, it makes my offer easier. We will go with you, however.. In return I wish for you to find this book." Jiraiya's eyebrows knitted in confusion. Wasn't this the book? Seeming to sense his confusion, she shook her head. "This is a copy, Jiraiya, written down and copied by one of my parents. Of which, I have no clue. The book ends with a woman named Kushina Uzumaki, three days before Whirlpool fell." She paused slightly and, with a slight edge to her voice, she added. "It is also the only piece of my clan I have left, so before you ask I cannot allow you to keep it."

Jiraiya stared at the book and slowly he reached forward, placing his hand just above it with his palm facing the wall. "Deal." He said, nodding his head. "I will find it. I was already planning to, but the fact that you have a copy.. Would you mind if I read it as we traveled to Konoha? In return, I can teach you a few tricks you may not know." She hesitated, but slowly she reached forward and grasped his hand with hers, a grin splitting across her face. As he gazed at the grin, Jiraiya couldn't help but feel as if he had been cheated some way.

"Deal." And they shook.

0-0-0-0-0-0 Chapter End 0-0-0-0-0

Here's a clear on the "Oath" Kyuubi has made: She won't be learning from him and becoming uber-powerful. She'll have techniques that most will never have, along with a certain mind-set that allows her to think quickly (which she had already, in both Canon and this story.) Other than that, she won't become extremely powerful to the point where no one would stand up to her. That's not my thing.

As _for_ the Kyuubi himself, he is only free to speak to her and walk around in her mind, though he will see nothing but trees and fields unless she is stressed, in which case it would change.

Any other questions you have can be said in a review and I will answer them in the next chapter, as I usually do.

Hope you enjoyed and here's a quick recap of the Jutsu that Houka and Fubuki know and what they do.

Jutsu list: Houka

_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Jutsu)– The user preforms the seal required and concentrates their chakra into another form, much like a normal Bunshin, however the user surrounds the Bunshin in a layer of chakra to cause it to become solid, however the chakra will disperse after one hit. This may also be used with weapons, such as shuriken or kunai._ (Not mastered and can only make up to two at a time.)

_Katon: Kasai no Ame (Rain of Fire) – The user preforms the seals ( Located on the back ) and focuses chakra into their hands. With careful control, the user forms a balls of fire around both hands, upon completion the user throws them into the air, causing the orbs to collide and split into many smaller fireballs which fall down onto the field as commanded by the user._ (Can only make up to fifteen small fireballs without running out of a large amount of chakra)

_Katon: Kasumi Enbu no Jutsu (Mist waltz Technique) – The user blows out a great amount of burnable gas by focusing Fire Element chakra in their gut, as with most Katon Jutsu. Once the gas comes in contact with flames or sparks, the gas ignites and continues to spread as the user pumps out more gas._ (Can create a decent amount of the gas, enough to cover herself in it if she used it)

_Kesu – By focusing Fire Element chakra, the user is able to dissipate flames by concentrating chakra around it and forcing it to be extinguished. Masters of this Jutsu may put out a flame with a wave of their hand, however if someone else is using chakra on the flames, or to create them, it becomes much more difficult to dissipate them._ (Nearly mastered, unable to put flames out instantly without a burst of chakra. Also unable to put out chakra controlled flames without focusing, depending on the size of the flames and the chakra inside them.)

_Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu -After using hand-seals, the user must first gather chakra into his hand and mouth. The mouth then shoots out fire and one hand is placed just out of the lips to control it into one intensely hot fireball. This attack is similar to a huge devastating flamethrower. _(Not able to create a very large fireball, as in it's smaller than Sasuke's in Canon, but it still packs quite a punch due to her recent training.)

The three academy basic techniques (Kawarmi, Bunshin, and Henge) are all mastered and do not require hand-seals. Tree and Water walking are also mastered to a degree, unable to run up them instantly without focusing.

Jutsu list: Fubuki

_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Jutsu)– The user preforms the seal required and concentrates their chakra into another form, much like a normal Bunshin, however the user surrounds the Bunshin in a layer of chakra to cause it to become solid, however the chakra will disperse after one hit. This may also be used with weapons, such as shuriken or kunai._ (Canon skill, though she can control how many she creates up and can create them without hand-seals.)

_Fuuton: Raiku Kaze (Wind Step) – The user sends a burst of Fuuton chakra to their feet, which explodes outwards from the sole, giving the user an extra push. Can be used in mid-air and requires no seals._ (Not able to use it effectively just yet, having not trained with it yet.)

_Fuuton: Sairanto Suteppu (Silent Step) – The user concentrates wind to their feet, with this, every time they step a slight amount of chakra is let out into the air, causing it to absorb sound. However, unless the chakra is expanded while stepping on a twig or something else that causes noise, the noise will not be muffled despite the footstep itself not being heard._ (Almost mastered, unable to simply keep it on without thinking about the chakra flow.)

_Netsushi – By focusing chakra to their eyes, the user's sight is changed so that they may see the temperatures of objects as color. Hot objects are red, cold are blue. This Jutsu is used to find hidden opponents, however it can cause loss of depth perception and details of the environment. _(Mastered, able to turn it on and off without using the seals.)

_Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hidden Mist Technique) – A technique that covers the area surrounding the user completely in mist, the size is based on how much chakra is pumped into the technique and provides little to no visibility to either the user or opponent. (Able to use it to an uncontrollable degree, as it isn't as focused as Zabuza's had been, but it is much thicker.)_

_Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu (Water Dragon Blast) – __The ninja manipulates the water around them into the shape of a large dragon that attacks their opponent as a torrential blast. _(Not even close to being mastered, usually only creating the body of the dragon and where as there's still a large blast, it isn't as strong as it should be.)

_Suiton: Suikemono Sakusei (Water Animal Creation) -The user uses their chakra to create animals out of water that are around the size of an average person's fist. These animals are able to fly if properly shaped, and move with a good deal of speed. However, they have insanely low strength, and will be destroyed with a single hit, making them difficult to put to offensive use. _(Unable to create effective animals without the assistance of another Jutsu to increase their damage or size. Able to create larger than fist-sized animals, due to the amount of chakra she puts in them, but this causes them to become unstable.) 

_Suiton: Teppoudama (Water Bullet) - Description: After forming the necessary hand seals, the user manifests a large amount of water in the user's mouth which they can then spit at their opponent as a large fast spherical projectile. _(Decent sized, larger than average but is unable and cannot travel large distances very fast without falling apart)

_Kesu – By focusing Fire Element chakra, the user is able to dissipate flames by concentrating chakra around it and forcing it to be extinguished. Masters of this Jutsu may put out a flame with a wave of their hand, however if someone else is using chakra on the flames, or to create them, it becomes much more difficult to dissipate them._ (Not mastered, but due to the amount of chakra she has and uses, she can easily subdue almost any flame, chakra controlled or not, with just a burst.)

_Fuuton: Reppuuken (Gale Pale Wind) - The user claps their palms together to generate a very fast gust of wind with a small impact surface. Alone the attack may just be an opening or a sudden mild blow back for an opponent, but in conjunction with midair projectiles, it can give them a sudden burst of flying speed making them very hard to dodge. _(Able to use it with _Suikemono Sakusei_ and other projectiles, however the wave of wind is unfocused and tends to go everywhere rather than in the direction she throws it.)

Kawarmi is completely mastered. Henge has been replaced with Kitsune Henge, and Bunshin is still unsuable.

_Kitsune Henge (Fox Transformation) – An extended Henge technique that is only useable by Kitsunes and those of their blood. Do not confuse with "Tanuki Henge.". _(Mastered, as it is just an enhanced Henge technique with Kyuubi's chakra, though it's mostly her own chakra that's used due to having some in her gut.)


End file.
